Julie & Julia

We snuck off to an unusual Wednesday afternoon movie - boy what a great day to go! 100 degrees outside :P

I have been wanting to see this movie for some time - was very anxious for it to come out and very happy to finally see it! Earthdad wanted to go see G.I.Joe instead but I dragged him along with me. He had to admit later that he did enjoy this one.

The good parts - it has a great premise, tempting trailers and a FABULOUS performance by Meryl Streep! Stanley Tucci was also a joy to watch as Julia Child's husband. They were together in The Devil Wears Prada but they're so much better here as an onscreen couple.

In an interview, Meryl Streep said she did not watch film of the real Julia Child but instead watched Dan Aykroyd's impersonation of her on a Saturday Night Live skit (we all remember that one!). She has the voice and mannerisms down. Unfortunately maybe she was a little too good, because about halfway through the film I remembered why I would watch Julia Child for only so long and then turn off her show. That voice would just grate on my nerves and I could only take so much! I started having the same feeling during some of the Meryl Streep/Julia Child scenes too. So obviously she was a success here!

There are two story lines going on, one modern day with Amy Adams (who was ... um... cute and then just annoying) who decides that she's floundering in her life so to save herself she will cook every recipe in Julia Child's cookbook in one year and blog about it.

The other story line follows Julia Child's beginnings as a cook in France. Her story is so much more interesting. I wanted it to go on and felt so disappointed when it didn't go further with her than it does.

My criticism is that the premise wears thin, the characters get annoying (especially Julie) and it seems to stall out. They sort of tread water for a bit and it seems to end on a flat note. We both had the same feeling of "huh - that's it?" when it ended.

Overall this was fun entertainment. It's light, there's quite a bit of food so eat before you go and have lots of popcorn to munch or you will be very hungry! It was a fun afternoon and a fun show. Amy Adam's story was the appetizer and Meryl Streep's was the hearty entree.

Pueblo Tinseltown was the theater, nice folks on a slow weekday afternoon.