Julie & Julia: Movie Review

Meryl Streep has redeemed herself. I wasn't sure if she'd bounce back from that appalling musical Mama Mia, but she has proven once again that she is the consummate actor. Streep magnificently portrays Julia Child on the brink of becoming the Julia Child. Streep has never seemed so..... big. Flamboyant, colorful, thunderous, hilarious. Writer/Producer Nora Ephron says of Streep's Julia Child: "The performance is not an imitation, it's more of a habitation." It was a bunch of tricks of Ann Roth, costumes, that made Streep's 5'6" appear over 6' tall, but it was Streep's amazing acting that sealed and delivered it, combined with that of Stanley Tucci as Child's husband, doing an over-the-top job himself.
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So what's it about? Julie & Julia is based on the lives of two true women - Julia Child and Julia Powell, lovingly played by Amy Adams. The movie flips back and forth between Julia's life circa 1949 and Julie's life in 2002, chronicling the similarities. Julia Child is a wife trying to find her niche in the world as is Julie, over 50 years later. Julie has a first-edition Julia Child cookbook that she nearly worships. Julie decides to cook her way through Julia's cookbook for a year and write about it in a blog.
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This movie offers the best of the best in ChickFlickdom. Endearing, intuitive husbands. Beautiful, artsy, funky backdrops and locations. Quirky, funny leading ladies who are not sex objects running around in underwear or skimpy clothes. Girlfriends. Lucy Ricardo snort producing moments.
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This movie has secured the Number One Favorite ChickFlick of All Time label in my movie collection (formerly held by Elizabethtown). And now, my friend, I must go fix a bowl of popcorn, get in my favorite PJ's and watch Elizabethtown again. Chick Flicks, like everything else that feels good, just makes me want more.