Meryl Streep has never been one of my favorites. This isn’t because she can’t act, quite the contrary, she’s amazing. It’s because for so many years every Streep movie I watched was a ‘downer’ with a capital D. I still remember the love/hate relationship I had with Out of Africa. In many ways, I’m a movie Pollyanna in that some movies I watch are great, but the movies I truly enjoy are the ones that just downright make me feel good.
So, now we have a different Streep—a Meryl who laughs, giggles and snorts. In Mamma Mia! she was almost silly (as were her co-stars). Mamma Mia! had lots of singing, dancing and laughing, but no one in the movie did the singing and dancing well. What they did well was the laughing and giggling. We have a Streep that can let down her hair. We have a Streep that, in the last few years, can touch your heart where you live.
Julie & Julia was beautifully made. It’s the story of two women separated by time and space. They never meet on screen but Julia has touched the life of young Julie Powell (Amy Adams) to the point that she decides to change her life by writing a blog.
Young Julia Child is living in Paris with her husband Paul (Stanley Tucci), a diplomat whose posting sparks her fascination with cordon bleu cooking. It’s the late 40’s early 50’s and Paris is a wonderful place to experience so she enrolls in a French cooking school. She sets out to make some friends. A tall woman, she towers over the petite and slender French women she meets at the school. Some are nice to her, some are waspish and critical but she eventually proves she can cook with the best of them.
Back to Julie Powell’s blog. Julie finished college considered to be the best and brightest. She gets stuck in a nowhere job listening to people complain all day. Her friends (yes, this movie is about friendships) talk her into writing a blog about her cherished Julia’s recipes. She decides to cook all 524 recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking written by Julia and her French collaborators and write about her experiences.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of my favorite writers, directors, producers. Nora Ephron is back and I, for one, am thrilled. The genius behind When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and so many more, is one of the most talented for her genre I have every encountered. The cleverness of this film, which shouldn’t work but does, proves she is one of the greats.
So there you have it; a very talented Amy Adams and the thoroughly marvelous Meryl Streep together…almost. I would give this a definite “must see” for everyone. Lighten up! Meryl figured out how to, and so can you!
As always you can email me with your comments at chastings@rockcliff.com or go on my website www.CarolynHastings.com for more reviews.