Julie & Julia (Giftset With Cookery Book) [DVD] [2009]

Rated by Hetty Smith, Warrington on 22nd February 2010

If one was to look at cinema listings of the last 5 years or so especially, then you would be hard pushed to find one film of this kind amongst the flood of blockbusters and action heroes. 'Julie and Julia' stands proud as a delicious treat to be savoured and enjoyed: this is summed up in Meryl Streep's phenomenal performance as Julia Child, a character unfortunately not as well-known here as the USA. I am subtracting one star purely as I felt my attention wane during the Amy Adams segments of the movie, if only because Streep's Child stays with you long after you finish watching the film.

Rated by Mr. Ian A. Macfarlane, Fife, Scotland on 9th September 2009

As a British viewer (possibly a rather ignorant one!) who did not know the Julia and Julie story, I found this movie absorbing and entertaining and one which did not outstay its welcome, lengthy as it was. The story is pretty well told in other reviews. Period detail for the Julia Child side of it is well caught, and Meryl Streep's performance is an absolute tour de force - she commands the screen whenever she appears. Another reviewer found Amy Adams bland as Julie, and I absolutely disagree with that. I thought she was charming and most sympathetic, as she needs to be if the film is to work at all, because it is her story that brings in the Julia Child story, and indeed this is the film of her book. All the performances are assured and convincing, and the screenplay, by Nora Ephron, is often witty and amusing (there is a very good joke even in the end credits) - never laugh-out-loud humour, but more subtle and more satisfying than that. What's there not to like? Another reviewer isn't turned on by fine cooking - well, neither am I, but there's a lot more to this film than that. Indeed it is not really a film about cooking but about two women in different times who set out to do something and become absorbed in it to the point of takeover, and that brings its own problems and triumphs. In the end, this is a feel-good film, a good one, and I like feeling good - so I liked the film.

Rated by C. O. DeRiemer, San Antonio, Texas, USA on 30th August 2009

Julie is cutesy; Julia is grand. That just about sums up Nora Ephron's movie, Julie & Julia. Ephron has taken Julie Powell's tale of deciding to make every single one of the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking and doing it in one year and Julia Child's memoir of her life in France with her husband, Paul, as she learned to cook, plus other elements of her life. The result is a movie, half of which is a memorable delight and half of which is not bad, depending on your tolerance for New York's creative yuppie set As Julie (Amy Adams), cute and smart and wanting to be writer, works her way through the recipes, we get to meet her superficial and more successful Manhattan friends, her loving husband who eventually gets tired of the project and his wife's self obsession with it, and the gradual recognition of others, including some in the writing game, of what she's doing. She keeps a blog and seems as devoted to it as she is to Julia Child. Back and forth we go in flashback as we also see Julia Child (Meryl Streep) trying to find something to do in Paris where her husband has been assigned after the war, deciding to master great French cooking, and discovering that great cooking and eating well prepared food is what she enjoys the best. To the surprise of some, but not herself or her husband, she becomes a wonderful example of try, try again, hard work, indomitable perseverance and good humor...all voiced with her inimitable fluting exuberance. Within minutes we've forgotten Streep and are completely enchanted by one of our favorite people. The drawback to the movie is that Julie Powell's quest seems increasingly self-centered and insignificant compared to Julia Child's quest. With Julie we get all the requisite clichés of New York's younger set, including stylishly improvised dinner parties, a 900 square foot apartment (above a pizza restaurant), romantic tussles on the sofa, the anguish of misunderstandings and disappointments. Ah, but with Julia we are on a magnificent quest on a completely different level...to conquer doubt; to do things right even if it means dropping spoons on a floor; to make and keep friends; to take cooking seriously, but not oneself; and with Paul to have a happy, mutually supportive and very lusty partnership. It would take a shrewd and skilled actor to stand up to Streep's extraordinary ability to channel Julia Child's personality, manners and voice. Stanley Tucci, by underplaying, makes Paul Child into what he was in life, the rock upon which Julia Child depended. Not much in the movie, to Nora Ephron's credit, is played for easy laughs. The movie may generate endless platefuls of warm smiles and nods, but that's because Ephron and Streep have managed the remarkable feat of giving us the Julia Child we learned to love and learn from through her television programs. Julia Child on the screen is the woman we saw and remember with such affection. If only Ephron, with Streep's signature on the contract, had just dumped the Julie part and given us all Julia.

Rated by Southern Geordie, Cullercoats, Tyne and Wear, England on 25th April 2010

My title says it all really. The small paper back of recipes fits inside the slipcase around the dvd. The paper is poor quality and recipes are just black and white type with no colour or fun images - very uninspiring to read. The book lets the dvd down. Given my choice again I wouldn't bother to buy the giftset and would simply stick to the dvd.

Rated by F. Parr, Wales on 16th February 2010

I didn't have any major desire to see it but when I did it was so well done and very cute, Amy Adams was amazing. I think she's my favourite actress since this film. Though it's not exactly an action-packed story line the characters are so interesting and honest it's fabulous. Didn't know what to expect but it had me hooked 5 minutes in.

Rated by Mr. Peter D. Hossent on 12th May 2010

We thoroughly enjoyed the video but did not receive the accompanying cookery book despite contacting the providers with reminders.

Rated by avid british reader, united kingdom on 27th April 2010

havingbeen recommended this by an equally enthusiastic loverof the film the Hours, I was so disppointed by it-I have to say its it not meryls best-a bit thin on plot here but well tried!

Rated by Alexia, Wales, UK on 22nd March 2010

I watched this film on DVD recently - I wish I had seen it at the cinema. Even so, I really enjoyed it. It goes without saying that Meryl Streep is fantastic (although I found the voice of Julia a little irritating) but I also really liked the actress that played Julie; I have not seen her in anything else but I am sure we will see more of her in the future. Given that I like anything French, I enjoyed the Paris atmosphere in the film and it is interesting to see the anthithesis of life in modern New York. It was an uplifting film, although a bit sad at the end (the scene where Julie is in the "museum" version of Julia's kitchen - I will not say any more so as not to spoil the film for you if you haven't seen it yet). I also liked the actors playing their two husbands and it was lovely to see a portrayal of relationships of couples that are not just based on lust, greed, selfishness (as you often do these days in TV series and films) but on mutual respect for the other person and supporting them through what they have to do. Not sure if they were like that in real life but who cares! It is these "quiet" relationships (that do not make the columns of the gossip magazines) that are of real value to someone's life. I am quite fond of cooking myself and making everything from scratch so needless to say I bought the paperback version of Julia Child's book after seeing the film. I've already tried one of the fish recipes (with the onion and mushrooms on top) and it was tasty and simple to follow through (although, as one of the reviewers on amazon rightly said about the book, the font is a little small in the first book). If you want to have a great evening in, this film is definitely a treat.

Rated by jfoureur, la turbie, france on 13th March 2010

Really disappointing...... This review is for the "gift set" as all the other are for the dvd alone. The "cookery" book is 30 recipes on 72 pages, not at all what it appears,(thought it was too good to be true, and it is), I suppose I should have known better. oh, well........ That said, the movie is thoroughly enjoyable, though I'd have preferred more Julia, and less Julie. It is nice to see Julia Child getting the attention she deserves.

Rated by Diana, Sintra, Portugal on 26th November 2009

Meryl Streep is always perfect, but here she even outdoes herself. She IS Julia Child, with that funny squeaky voice and eccentric ways. I found the film simply fabulous, and owning Mastering the Art of French Cooking, found it fascinating to see how it originated. Meryl Streep as Julia is larger than life. The Julie side of the film was OK, if a little weak, but somehow blended in with the Julia half. Nevertheless I found myself wishing the Julie scenes would finish so as to be able to go back to the Julia ones. Whether you've heard of Julia Child or not, or whether you're into cooking or not, this is definitely a must if you want to enjoy yourself.