Julie & Julia: There’s a Reason People Don’t Make Movies About Blogs
August 9, 2009 by Robin Reed
Filed under Movies
I’m sure it’s possible to make a bad movie starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. But it wouldn’t be easy. You’d really have to work at it. It’s got to be tough to pull off true badness when you’ve got those two amazing women on camera the whole time.
And Julie & Julia doesn’t work at it quite hard enough. It’s not a bad movie. But it’s not a great movie, either. It’s probably as mediocre as a movie starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams could reasonably be expected to be.
J&J is the first big-budget movie to be based on a blog. And … as a proponent of new media, who spends her days writing blog posts and e-mails and even tweets, for heaven’s sake, and getting paid for it, it pains me to say this, but — there’s a reason no one has ever made a movie based on a blog before. And I sincerely hope that no one ever will again.
Because movies about blogs are boring. Remember how when Sex and the City was on you always used to go to get more ice cream whenever Carrie sat down at her laptop and started typing? Well, in Julie & Julia, the protagonist’s sitting down and typing, and voice-overing the typed words, comprises, like, half the movie.
J&J, in case you aren’t up on your food blog studies, tells the story of two women whose lives were changed by cooking: Julia Child, who moved to Paris in 1949 and immediately fell in love with French cuisine, prompting her to write a cookbook that changed American cooking culture forevermore, and Julie Powell, a 29-year-old resident of Queens who in 2002 started a blog chronicling her attempt
to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s first cookbook.
I don’t cook at all myself, so what I know of fine cuisine comes from Top Chef. This movie made me hungry, but it did not make me want to learn to cook. Far from it. Cooking, apparently, involves murdering lobsters and having meltdowns and getting stern talking-tos about the evils of taking personal days.
The half of the movie that’s about Julia Child is fun. Not the most exciting story ever, but charming, and brilliantly acted by Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci as Julia’s wonderful husband Paul. But the other half of the movie is best described as “a drag.” Yesterday I would’ve told you it was impossible for Amy Adams to play an unlikable character. I was so naïve.
I think part of the issue with movies based on actual blogs is that they have no choice but to be about actual, normal people’s lives, and the lives of actual, normal people are seldom interesting enough to be fodder for entertaining movies. With the whole workaday New York stress and the presence of Meryl Streep in J&J, I kept hoping to get a Devil Wears Prada esque vibe. But the reason Prada worked was that it placed a normal-enough character in an amusing situation. Whereas Julie is simply a normal character in a mildly-cute situation. People describing their day-to-day lives in witty ways can work beautifully in a blog format, but I can’t think of a single movie that has succeeded on witty descriptions of uneventful day-to-day life alone. Something needs to happen, at some point, for a movie to work.
J&J treats Julia Child with a reverence usually reserved for the likes of, say, Gandhi, or Martin Luther King. I have no doubt that Mrs. Child was a great lady, and if Julie Powell really did consider her the ultimate role model, then, okay. But it feels more like the producers were terrified of offending Mrs. Child’s many, many worshippers, who probably make up the movie’s core audience. I prefer my characters layered, though, myself. Were Julia played by anyone but the marvelous Meryl Streep, I think she would’ve bored me just a tad.
I kept getting the sense that Julie & Julia was trying to say something profound about women’s lives and the importance of day-to-day activities like cooking and what they say about society, or something. But I could never quite figure out what that message actually was. Yes, even in 2009 it’s still nice to see a movie about ambitious women and the men who stand behind them (although, if the Julie character is unlikable, her husband, Eric, played by some guy, is downright unbearable). And both of the women triumph, in the end ? forgive me if you consider this a spoiler, but Julia Child’s cookbook gets published, and Julie Powell gets a book deal that then turns into a movie deal. And that’s nice. But those are seriously the only things that happened in the entire 123 minutes of movie.
I wouldn’t say I regret watching Julie & Julia. It had its strong points. But since I’m a girl on a budget, I do kind of wish I’d saved my $9.50 August filmgoing budget and seen District 9 instead.
I really enjoyed this movie!!
(Extract–Westlake, Ohio)
I can totally see where you are coming from with your review, but to be honest, my cinematic love for Meryl Streep apparently knows no bounds. She’s wonderful even in the worst film (there’s haven’t been many – She-Devil, anyone?), and she is worth the price of admission in my book.
(Final Destination, Seattle, WA)
This is certainly not the best movie I have ever seen, but the two stars are still fantastic! Meryl Streep works her magic again and Amy Adams continues to sparkle! If it weren’t for these two great actresses, I agree, the movie would be a total dud. Overall, a charming movie worth watching once.
(Final Destination, Novi)
i think this movie was really good. This movie brought tears to my moms eyes
(Final Destination, New York)
I loved this movie. I love to cook, and this movie was right up my alley. I was never a fan of Julia Child, but I thought Meryl Streep did a fantastic job. I thought it was a very entertaining movie, and the food looked fantastic! (TAKING WOODSTOCK, Detroit, MI)
I liked this movie a lot in fact when it comes in dvd i am going to buy it.
(Final Destination, San Diego, Ca)
I totally disagree with the mix reviews on the Julie & Julia. Anything with Meryl Streep merits attention and she delivers another wonderful, Oscar-worthy performance. Amy Adams is quicky becoming one of the most delightful and very watchable upcoming actress. The parallels to both stories of Julie & Julia was refreshing and a Joy to watch. All I can say is “YUM”!
FINAL DESTINATION
St. Louis MO
I saw Julie & Julia with my grandmother and sister, which was the perfect group to go with to see this movie. But personally I only went to see this movie because of Meryl Streep; she was amazing as Julia Child. Amy Adams on the other hand was rather disappointing, more disappointing than her role as Debra Messing’s sister in the movie The Wedding Date. I hated her and her hair in that movie. (Taking Woodstock, Detroit Michigan)
I think this movie should’ve been called Julia and Julie. That and Julie does not respect Julia whatsoever in her “blog.” She cusses and belittles Julia when the recipes aren’t right. She just looks cute because Amy Adam is so wonderful.
(Final Destination, Los Angeles)
Definitely not something I would watch unless my bf makes me….. (Final Destination, New York)
This movie doesn’t interest me, but my wife saw it and loved it. (Final Destination, San Francisco)
I like this “cooking” movie… The part played by Meryl were just fine.
Alas, the part played by Amy Adams was kinda sadder. The movie dragged
a little for me with her morsels. Overall, this movie is a great tribute to cooking.
I loved this movie too. I read the book (not the blog) and I thought that it was great how Nora Ephron integrated the story of Julia Child into the original story in the book. I saw great marriages, which take WORK, which people ought to remember. And I saw some great examples of women finding their way… I thought it was lovely.
If you’ve ever actually read the J&J blog, Julie Powell had the same crazy saint-like admiration for Julia Childs that Amy Adams portrayed in the movie. I definitely agree though, Amy Adams was annoying, for loss of a better word. I enjoyed the movie though, excluding the part about the blogging.
I think you’re trying too hard. This was a wonderful movie with four fine actors. Of course Meryl ate the scenery. She’s Meryl Streep. Amy Adams was wonderful and undeserving of the silly rationale critics have heaped upon her. This movie works very well, thank you. Amy Adams is beautiful and engaging and deserves better.
I also agree you got it wrong, but I am sure it was your opinion.
I was dragged by the girlfriend to see this and was not expecting much but we both really liked it. Great date movie even for people who did not grow up with Julia on TV.
I must say the demographics were really unusual in the theater. I estimate that 1/3 of the crowd was over 65.
The 70+ year old lady with a cane in front of us stood up at the end and gave it a standing ovation.
This was one of the best movies I have seen in years. Loved it. Laughed so hard. What a joy!
You’ve got this all wrong. Both my husband and I thought it was an excellent movie. It was not an action movie or full of sex and violence like so many are these days. It is a wonderful story about a lovely, odd but funny Icon in the cooking world and how someone found her soul in the cooking. Meryl Streep was excellent and continued the character through out the entire movie. She deserves an oscar.