Julie and Julia (2009)

Two films in one. Wee! “Julie and Julia” follows modern day New Yorker Julie Powell (Amy Adams) who blogs about wading her way through Julia Child’s famously thick French cooking book, and the story behind how post-World War II-era Child (Meryl Streep) authored the famous kitchen must-have. The Child sections are best and most on target, with Streep playing the tall chef married to a diplomat (Stanley Tucci, winning as ever). Streep has the voice down cold, and the mannerism, too, but never sinks to mimicry. She’s a hoot. The politics of an American woman grabbing her own destiny in Europe crackle, as do the scenes where the poison of McCarthyism seeps into this happy couple’s life. The Powell sections are good, carried more by Adams’ great performance and ever-growing charisma than the writing. The woes of a directionless 30-year-old just don’t resonate as much. Nora Ephron directs and writes. And the food … yum! B+