I have not anticipated a movie as much as I was eager to see Julie & Julia. I am not sure why. I had never heard of Julie Powell's story or her blog. I had heard of Julia Child, but was not a big fan by any means, although I am a faithful fan of Foodnetwork. Still, there was just something about this movie that was attractive to me. 

I did something I have not done in a very long time, I told my husband I was going to the movies. "By yourself?" he asked. "Yes, by myself." I gloated. I love going to see a movie by myself. He does not get that, but it is alright. Really, why go to a movie with someone? You can't talk during the thing. I guess that was part of being as into this movie as I was.

The premise of the movie is based on two true stories, that of Julie Powell and that of Julia Child.

One story of Julie Powell (Amy Adams) from 2002 who is a cubical worker feeling very unfulfilled as her more successful friends seem to have more interesting lives. Feeling left behind, she decides she will challenge herself to writing a blog while cooking every recipe (524 of them) in Julia Child's cookbook, MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING  in a year (364 days). She begins this task in her small Queens apartment kitchen.

The other part of the movie (and more enjoyable actually) is about Julia Child (Meryl Streep) and her husband in Paris in 1949. Julia takes to France and loves Paris. Her diplomat husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci), is very doting of her and supportive when she is trying to decide what she should do. In a great scene Julia and Paul are in a restaurant having dinner and having the conversation of what she should do and he asks, "What is it you like  to do?" and she replies, "Eat." Streep and Tucci do a wonder job at this scene and the comical timing is perfect.

The movie goes back and forth between the two women's stories, their challenges and their triumphs. I did find myself more into the Julia story than the Julie story. I do not know it just seemed more interesting to me. I have heard critics say that Amy Adams played off of Meryl Streep too much, but I did not find that to be the case. It was just that Julia Child is the person most of us are familiar with and this movie tells us the story we did not know. As was said in the movie, Julia Child was not always Julia Child, so we learn new things about a very familiar face.

Meryl Streep does an excellent job with portraying Julia Child. With a person so well established in all of our memories whether we followed her or not, any actress would have had to have a spot on performance to convince us. Streep provides that. She makes Child come across as adorable and likable with a wonderful sense of humor. As a testament to the job Streep did with Julia Child, one of the hottest Google searches this week has been, you guessed it, Julia Child.

Before this movie, Julia Child to me was Dan Akroyd on Saturday Night Live cutting the dickens out of her, I mean, his finger. Or that tall woman who talked in such a way, it never gave away she was a California native. This movie makes me think, I missed something by not paying her more attention. 

Julie & Julia has gotten mixed reviews, but as for me, I consider a movie a good one if I enjoy it.  I did enjoy this one. I enjoyed the movie and was not disappointed at all in the story line or the acting. Meryl Streep convinced me she was Julia Child and touched me with the story of Julia and her husband, Paul. While less interested in the Julie Powell story, Amy Adams was fine and payed the meltdown oriented Julie quite well. 

I was not the only person to enjoy Julie & julia. The audience was also engaged. There was a lot of laughter during this movie. And let me add, with all the issues most of us have currently in our lives, laughing is always a welcome endeavor. 

If you have thought about going out to the movies and thought about seeing Julie & Julia, do. This movie will not be a disappointment. And be prepared to like the heck out of Julia Child.