Julie & Julia (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

( Max score: 100 )

85

Film Synopsis:

A culinary legend provides a frustrated office worker with a new recipe for life in Julie & Julia, the true stories of how Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) life and cookbook inspired fledgling writer Julie Powell (Amy Adams) to whip up 524 recipes in 365 days and introduce a new generation to the magic of French cooking. Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) co-stars in director Nora Ephron's delicious comedy about joy, obsession and butter. Bon appétit!

My Take:

Passion. Ambition. Butter. Do you have what it takes? Julie and Julia is a film based on two books, Julie and Julia by Julie Powell and My life in France by Julia Child. The two stories are told separately and move back and forth between the points in each woman's life as depicted in their respective books. On one hand it follows culinary wunderkind Julia Child from the point where she and her husband Paul first moved to France in the late 1940's through to the publishing of her first book. Paul worked and Julia was looking for something to occupy her time. After trying a variety of things, most of which didn't interest her, she opts at Paul's suggestion to try something related to a hobby very near and dear to her heart, eating. She began taking cooking classes at the Cordon Bleu culinary school. The fact that she was the only woman and novice in the class, didn't prevent her from becoming the class's best student. Her love of food, endearing charm and knack for creativity ultimately led to her union with the two women with whom she would write Mastering the art of French cooking a book that would change how Americans approached cooking in their homes. On the other hand the film follows NY City house wife Julie Powell, working in an unrewarding job and looking to do something meaningful. She too is a lover of food and a big Julia Child fan. She comes up with the idea of cooking her way through Julia's Mastering the art recipes (524 total). Her goal is to do it in a year's time, and document her progress in a daily blog. The film moves back and forth and documents the successes and failures of these two interesting women who share of love of life, food and the creative art that its preparation entails.

Going into this review I wasn't expecting to be enthralled by this film but seeing Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Stanley Tucci as the leads left hope that it would be entertaining. It was exactly that and I enjoyed it much more than expected. For me the primary interest lies in the telling of Julia Child's story. At its heart it is a love story that conveys the true partnership between Paul and Julia. These were two people completely devoted to one another and the film depicts it in a charming, witty and warm fashion. Additionally it shows the development of her career and its beginnings that led to her first book which was released in the U.S in 1961. I knew that Julia Child was well regarded and I recall seeing her on TV when I was young but didn't really know much else. She was quite a character and Meryl Streep steals the show with her captivating and genuine portrayal. I am a big fan of Stanley Tucci and always enjoy watching him. He and Streep have excellent chemistry onscreen and the script's clever use of expression draws it out perfectly. The Julie Powell aspect and how she comes to tell her story is certainly interesting but to a lesser degree. Its focus within the film is appropriately secondary to that of Julia's but does make a definitive connection which allows it to fit in nicely. Amy Adams is a gifted young actress that seems to excel no matter what the role although I don't think this was an overly demanding part for her. In the end I was very pleased with Julie & Julia and appreciated its multidimensional and genuine story. The cast (particularly Streep and Tucci) was marvelous and writer/director Nora Ephron aptly imparted her passion for the subject matter which together made for a wonderfully entertaining film.

Parental Guide:

The rating is brief strong language and some sensuality.

Audio: 80

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Video: 90

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Julie & Julia comes to Blu-ray Disc from Sony/Columbia featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 22 mbps and lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 2.8 mbps.

This is an excellent video presentation that boasts plenty of high level detail, strong contrast, deeply saturated colors, and three dimensional acuity. Blacks are punchy and stand out when onscreen with mixed content. Visual perspective in low lighting and darkened areas is estimable. The combination gives dark scenes appreciable depth. Images are dynamic, boldly colorful, clearly drawn, and perfectly suited for the source material. The lossless DTS-HD MA soundtrack has good dynamic range and detail rich clarity that enables the detection of subtle background sounds within the acoustic environment created by the surround mix. Dialogue is firmly planted in the center channel which clearly renders voices and effects with appropriate distinction and tonal balance within the front soundstage. Low frequency effects aren't intense but the subwoofer is kept busy as it works in tandem with the rest of the system to appropriately convey the low level bass associated with the film's recorded elements.

Bonus Features:

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• Commentary with writer/director Nora Ephron
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• (HD) Secret ingredient: Creating Julie & Julia - 27 minute featurette
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• (HD) Family & friends remember Julia Child - 47 minute documentary
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• (HD) Julia's kitchen - 22 minute documentary
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• (HD) Cooking lessons - 5 segments (2 including Julia Child)
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• BD Previews:
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  2. Angels and demons
     
  3. Michael Jackson's This is it
     
  4. Coco before Chanel
     
  5. An education
     
  6. Every little step
     
  7. Whatever works
     
  8. Bewitched
     
  9. The holiday
     
  10. Made of honor
      
  11. Damages Season 1
  
  
• BD-Live enabled

Final Thoughts:

Julie & Julia is a fun, warm and feel good film based upon the lives of two women from completely different backgrounds who found reward/success in their lives thanks to their passion for food. The fact that their stories are true makes the story engaging and thanks to strong turns by the cast, particularly the superlative Meryl Streep, all the more genuine. It comes to Blu-ray Disc from Sony in exemplary fashion with superb high definition video, clear lossless sound and a strong bonus supplement set which is headlined by the Family & friends retrospective documentary. This is an enjoyable film that is certainly worth taking for a spin.