Julie & Julia is a 2009 American biographical comedy-drama film written and directed by Nora Ephron starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Messina. The film contrasts the life of chef Julia Child in the early years of her culinary career with the life of young New Yorker Julie Powell, who aspires to cook all 524 recipes in Child s cookbook in 365 days, a challenge she described on her popular blog, which made her a published author.

Ephron s screenplay is based on two books: My Life in France, Child s autobiography written with Alex Prud homme, and a memoir by Powell, Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (later retitled Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously). Both of these books were written and published between 2004 and 2006. Powell s book was based on her blog The Julie/Julia Project, where she documented online her daily experiences cooking each of the 524 recipes in Child s 1961 cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The film is the first major motion picture based on a blog.

In March 2008, Ephron began filming with Streep as Child and Adams as Powell. On July 30, 2009, the film officially premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York; and, on August 7, 2009, it opened throughout North America. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised Streep s performance. Streep and Adams previously starred together in Doubt (2008). Streep and Tucci previously starred together in The Devil Wears Prada (2006).

Julie & Julia was Ephron s last film before her death in 2012.

Plot

The film is presented in a series of flashbacks between present-day and past, jumping between various moments in both Julie and Julia s lives. The following plot summary separates the plot based on character.

Julia Child – 1950s

In the 1950s, Julia Child, an enthusiastic and unabashed woman, moves to Paris with her diplomat husband, Paul Child. She attends Le Cordon Bleu to learn French cooking and is initially met with skepticism as she is the only woman in the class. Madame Elizabeth Brassart, the proprietress of the school, clashes with Julia. However, Julia is undaunted and begins collaborating on a book about French cooking for American housewives with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle.

Julia continues to work diligently on the book, despite such obstacles as Paul being repeatedly reassigned, Louisette s less-than-diligent efforts on the project (she s eventually told she will get a smaller share of the royalties than Julia and Simone), and Paul s being investigated for allegedly un-American activities.

Although Julia s book is rejected by Houghton Mifflin as too long and complicated, it is ultimately accepted and published by Alfred A. Knopf.

Julie Powell – 2002

In 2002, Julie Powell has an unpleasant job at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation s call center, where she answers telephone calls from victims of the September 11 attacks and members of the general public complaining about the LMDC s controversial plans for rebuilding the World Trade Center.

To do something she enjoys, she decides to cook every recipe in Julia Child s 1961 book Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year while blogging about it. Her husband Eric initially supports her in this and she gains a following, but tension develops when Julie starts to get conceited and prioritize her blog and readers over their marriage. He temporarily leaves after an argument, after which Julie expresses remorse in her blog. Finally, Julie is visited by a food writer from The New York Times, who features her blog in a story, after which her project begins to receive the attention of journalists, literary agents, and publishers.

Julie is hurt when a journalist tells her that Child was critical of Julie s blog project, but she retains her love and gratitude for Child and the inspiration she provided. The last scenes show Powell and her husband visiting a reconstruction of Child s kitchen at the Smithsonian Institution, and Child in the same kitchen at her home receiving a first print edition of her cookbook and celebrating the event with her husband.

Cast

• Meryl Streep as Julia Child
• Amy Adams as Julie Powell
• Stanley Tucci as Paul Child, Julia s husband
• Chris Messina as Eric Powell, Julie s husband
• Linda Emond as Simone Beck ( Simca ), with whom Julia wrote Mastering the Art of French Cooking
• Helen Carey as Louisette Bertholle, co-author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking
• Jane Lynch as Dorothy Dean Cousins, Julia s sister
• Mary Lynn Rajskub as Sarah, Julie s friend
• Joan Juliet Buck as Madame Elisabeth Brassart of Le Cordon Bleu, where Julia studied French cooking
• Amanda Hesser as herself
• Deborah Rush as Avis DeVoto, Julia s long-time pen pal
• Vanessa Ferlito as Cassie, Julie s acquaintance
• Casey Wilson as Regina, Julie s acquaintance
• Jillian Bach as Annabelle, Julie s acquaintance
• Frances Sternhagen as Irma Rombauer
• Françoise Lebrun as The Baker s Mother
• Mary Kay Place as the voice of Mrs. Foster, Julie s mother
• Erin Dilly as Judith Jones, Julia s editor and friend

Release

On its opening weekend, the film opened #2 behind G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra with $20.1 million. Julie & Julia ended up grossing $94.1 million in the United States and Canada, and earned a worldwide total of $129.5 million.

Reception

The film received positive reviews from critics, and Streep s performance was highly acclaimed by critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 77% based on 227 reviews, with an average score of 6.71/10 with a Certified Fresh rating, and the site s critical consensus states: Boosted by Meryl Streep s charismatic performance as Julia Child, Julie & Julia is a light, but fairly entertaining culinary comedy. Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, gave it an average score of 66% based on 34 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews .

Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan commented: does it right. A consummate entertainment that echoes the rhythms and attitudes of classic Hollywood, it s a satisfying throwback to those old-fashioned movie fantasies where impossible dreams do come true. And, in this case, it really happened. Twice. The A.V. Club gave the film a C, explaining, Julie & Julia is two movies in one. That s one more movie than it needs to be. Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+. The review by Slate was also positive.

Streep has been widely praised for her performance as Child. Movie critic A. O. Scott of The New York Times affirmed: By now has exhausted every superlative that exists and to suggest that she has outdone herself is only to say that she s done it again. Her performance goes beyond physical imitation, though she has the rounded shoulders and the fluting voice down perfectly. Reviewer Peter Travers wrote in Rolling Stone that Streep—at her brilliant, beguiling best—is the spice that does the trick for the yummy Julie & Julia. Similarly, Stephanie Zacharek of Salon concluded that Streep isn t playing Julia Child here, but something both more elusive and more truthful—she s playing our idea of Julia Child.

Awards and nominations

Awards and Nominations
Award	Category	Nominee	Result
Academy Awards	Best Actress	Meryl Streep	Nominated
BAFTA Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Actress		Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	Best Actress		Won (tied with Sandra Bullock)
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
Detroit Film Critics Society Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
EDA Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy		Won
	Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy		Nominated
Houston Film Critics Society Awards	Best Actress	Meryl Streep	Nominated
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Actress		Won
London Film Critics Circle Awards	Actress of the Year		Nominated
New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Actress		Won
New York Film Critics Online Awards	Best Actress		Won
North Texas Film Critics Association Awards	Best Actress		Won
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Actress		Won
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards	Best Actress		Won
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Actress		Won
Satellite Awards	Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy		Won
	Best Film – Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nora Ephron	Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards	Best Actress	Meryl Streep	Nominated
Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards	Best Actress		Won
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
Writers Guild of America Award	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nora Ephron	Nominated

Condition

New

Actor

Alexandre Desplat, Richard Marks, Stephen Goldblatt

Publisher

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Published Date

2009-01-01

Format

DVD

Brand

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Age Group

Adult

Rating MPA

Pg-13

Recording Studio

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Amazon ASIN

B002RSDW80

UPC / EAN

043396292291

Year

2009

ReleaseDate

2009-08-07

RuntimeMins

123

RuntimeStr

2h 3min

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar, 24 wins & 47 nominations total

Directors

Nora Ephron

Writers

Nora Ephron, Julie Powell, Julia Child

Stars

Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Chris Messina

Produced by

John Bernard, Dianne Dreyer, Nora Ephron, Donald J. Lee Jr., Laurence Mark, Amy Robinson, Scott Rudin, J.J. Sacha, Eric Steel, Dana Stevens

Music by

Alexandre Desplat

Cinematography by

Stephen Goldblatt

Film Editing by

Richard Marks

Casting By

Kathy Driscoll, Francine Maisler

Production Design by

Mark Ricker

Art Direction by

Ben Barraud

Set Decoration by

Susan Bode

Costume Design by

Ann Roth

Makeup Department

Jerry DeCarlo, J. Roy Helland, Catherine Jabes, Kyra Panchenko, Florence Roumieu, James Sarzotti, Peggy Schierholz, Mary Cooke, Amy Duskin, Laurence Grosjean, Irène Jordi, Sherri Berman Laurence, Anita Lausevic, Aurélie Rameau, Olivier Seyfrid, Dina Sliwiak, Jean Luc Villeneuve

Production Management

Gilles Castera, Erica Kay, Donald J. Lee Jr., Paul A. Levin, Vincent G. Scotti, Matthieu Vogel

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

Jeffrey T. Bernstein, David Boitard, Ali Cherkaoui, Denis Doyle, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Marcos González Palma, Nancy Hermann, Ariane Lacan, Ted O Connor, Peggy Sutton, Estelle Bonnet-Gérard, Julian Brehier, Kevin Frilet, Guilhem Malgoire

Art Department

Anthony Baldasare, Diana Burton, Patrick Campbell, Luke Cantarella, Jeremy Chapelet, Pierre Choumeurthe, Hélène Dubreuil, Jerome Fortier, Joseph Garzero, Jonathan Graham, Glen A. Gregory, Bruce Lee Gross, Gregory Hill, Gay A. Howard, Claire Kirk, Sophie Lampkin, Ana Lombardo, Robin McAllister, Nick Miller, Nelly Nahon, Marguerite Ots, Blythe R.D. Quinlan, Mick Rossman, Amy Safhay, Galen Schneider, Joel Tishcoff, Bettina von den Steinen, James Whelan, Nicolas Brechat, Jason Jay Brown, Lucien Charles, Elan Dassani, Alexander Garzero, Apache Gonzalez, Ludovic Guille, Doug Huszti, Imogen Lee, Thomas Lemierre, Kimberley Lieber, Kathryn C. McGinnis, Rebecca Meis DeMarco, Anthony O.H. Navarro, Antonio Nogueira, Eric Pastore, Michael Powsner, Jennifer Santucci, Todd Seidman, Zach Selter, Greg Voth, Alexis Weiss, Joan Winters

Sound Department

Ron Bochar, David Boulton, Kam Chan, Marko A. Costanzo, Lee Dichter, Chris Fielder, Sean Garnhart, Heather Gross, Bobby Johanson, Frank Kern, George A. Lara, Marissa Littlefield, Tod A. Maitland, Branka Mrkic, Angela Organ, Michael Scott, Clémence Stoloff, Deborah Wallach, Jerry Yuen, Alexa Zimmerman, Chad Birmingham, Kay Denmark, Sean Garnhart, Kenneth Gilbert, Larry Hopkins, Vivien Mergot, Nicholas Renbeck, Vincent Servant, Mathieu Weber, Paul Yurt

Special Effects by

Fred Buchholz, Doug Coleman

Visual Effects by

Glenn Allen, Justin Ball, Matthew Conner, Richard Friedlander, Chris Pinkus Wesselman, Jun Zhang, Daniel Abramovich, Ella Boliver, Kyle Boylen, Leslie Chung, Patrick Clancey, Manuel Rey Gonzalez, Noel Hooper, Philippe Majdalani, John Mangia, Sean Mattini, Mitch Paulson, Eric J. Robertson, Michael Ross-Lang

Stunts

Sybille Blouin, Peter Bucossi, Victor Chan, Pascal Guégan, Christian Hening, Audrey Ottaviano, Caroline Vexler, Alessandro Borgese, Christophe Marsaud, Caroline Vexler

Camera and Electrical Department

Victor Abadia, Eric Bialas, Stephen Consentino, Trevor Coop, Jean-François Drigeard, David M. Dunlap, Steven Edick, Gene Engels, Kenneth Fundus, Thibaut Guenois, Richard Guinness Jr., Larry Huston, Billy Kerwick, Kevin Kerwick, Meg Kettell, Cyril Kuhnholtz, Théo Louis Jean, Bruce MacCallum, Frances Buddy McBride, Patrick McGrath, Kevin McKenna, John Milcetic, Kanamé Onoyama, Tom Percarpio, Brent Poleski, Jonathan Wenk, Cesar Baptista, David E. Baron, Adam Benlifer, Bernard X. Brongniart, Charles Carpentier, Larhn Davitt, Antonin Drigeard, David Dutkus, Hugues Espinasse, Robert Falcone, Grégori Gajéro, Manuel Gaspar, John Geisler, David Giesbrecht, Keith Gordon, Paul Goroff, Christopher Heikel, Chris Henry, Philip Lozano, James Madrid, Alexander Martin, Graham Martyr, Alexandra Massetti, Jeremy Mauroy, Tim McAuliffe, Steve McNally, Mark Melendez, Ryan Minelli, Jeff Muhlstock, Robbin Park, Guillaume Renberg, Lance Rieck, Chris Rosen, Kyle Stephens, James Sylvia, Vincent Tulasne

Casting Department

Elizabeth Chodar, Sondra James, Suzanne Ryan, David M. Waldron, Aurélie Avram, Franck Jouard, Géraldine Mouton, Claire Traeger, Grant Wilfley

Costume and Wardrobe Department

Megan Asbee, Anne Brault, Nina Cinelli, Kevin Draves, Nicole Greenbaum, Jennifer Ingram, Nina Johnston, Fionnuala M. Lynch, Michelle Matland, Flore Vauville, Laurence Caines, Patricia Colin, Aurélie Dolbeau, Debbe DuPerrieu, Colleen Morris Glennon, Rhonney Greene, Dain I. Kalas, Jared B. Leese, Leonard Logsdail, Remy Pearce, Thomas M. Smalley

Editorial Department

Zana Bochar, Andreas Fehrle, Ann Gray, Mo Henry, Abbi Jutkowitz, Loan Phan, Steven J. Scott, Shelly Westerman, Brian Boyd, Pete Conlin, Charles Herzfeld, Jonathan Hoffman, Curtis Lindersmith, Dave Pickett, Richie Roefaro

Location Management

Jerome Albertini, Stéphane Floc h, Heather Gauntt, Christine Leaman, Len Murach, David Bellarosa, Steven Carbajal, Kate Killoran Dowd, Alexis Giraudeau, Orit Greenberg, Arnaud Kaiser, Rocco Nisivoccia, Hyo Park, Drew Schofer, Tom Sexton, Guillaume Sion, Matthew H. Wiesner

Music Department

Tom Brown, Jim Hoffman, Todd Kasow, Dominique Lemonnier, Katherine Gordon Miller, Sandra Park, Conrad Pope, Naomi Sato, Don Sebesky, Peter Cobbin, Frank De Vol, Tony Finno, Matt Franko, Philip Klein, Victor Pesavento, Nan Schwartz, Steven L. Smith, Maki Suzuki, Clifford J. Tasner

Script and Continuity Department

Rebecca Breckel, Dianne Dreyer

Transportation Department

Peter Clores, David Conelli, Steven R. Hammond, Jérôme Servant, José Tejada, Jalal Aqdim, Maxime Couteret, Charles Heidet, Olivier Suffert, Trystram Sylvain, Gabe Turiello

Additional Crew

Petra Alexandria, Joan Altman, Matt Anderson, Dawn Barkan, Agnes Bermejo, Kate Bogle, Michael Braun, Wally Bruce, Jamie Buckner, Chester Coleman, Gabrielle Cran, Maggie Delaney, Adrienne Dine, John Edmundson, Charlotte Fleck, Colin Flynn, Eddie K. Goldblatt, Emily Millay Haddad, Mark Hagerman, Amanda Iger, Edma Jadan, David Kennedy, Adam Klaff, Brendan Lee, Emmett J. Lundberg, Gary Martyn, Genevieve P. Metzger, Kathryn Moïse, Eric Myers, Ryan Patrick-Najibi, Alex Prud homme, Chauency Reese, Fanny Schwartz, John Sesumi, Susan Spungen, Susan Strine, Robert Tierney, Kevin Whittinghill, Kori E. Wilson, Nick Zayas, Warren Adams, Michael Aronson, Lori Barber, Penelope Bischoff, Carole Schmidlin Blanchard, Françoise Bouillon-Pommerolle, Julien Béségher, Brian Cantaldi, John Charles, James Coker, Mickaël Conan, Brian Damrow, D.R. Farquharson, Emmanuel Fleury, Andrea Giannetti, Ann Gray, Sam Halajian, Pierre Hue, Phyllis Johnson, Yann Jouannic, Alyssa Lakota, Rebecca Lindsey, Shawn Fulton Lucas, Gabriel Mamruth, Caitlin McFarland, Frédéric Millet, Christie Moreau, Sean Oliver, Debbie Pearl, Laura Pearson-Smith, Wayne Petrucelli, Emma Rees-Scanlon, Andrew Rogala, Lisa Rothe, Keleigh Slaight, Jeannine Sloane, Miriam Tielmann, Adam Wolenski

Thanks

Sylvie Barnaud, Sophie Boudon-Vanhille, Régine Hatchondo, Judith Jones, Pamela Talese

Genres

Biography, Drama, Romance

Companies

Columbia Pictures, Easy There Tiger Productions, Scott Rudin Productions

Countries

USA

Languages

English, French

ContentRating

PG-13

ImDbRating

7

ImDb Rating Votes

119362

Metacritic Rating

66

Short Description

Julie & Julia is a 2009 American biographical comedy-drama film written and directed by Nora Ephron starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Messina. The film contrasts the life of chef Julia Child in the early years of her culinary career with the life of young New Yorker Julie Powell, who aspires to cook all 524 recipes in Child s cookbook in 365 days, a challenge she described on her popular blog, which made her a published author.

Ephron s screenplay is based on two books: My Life in France, Child s autobiography written with Alex Prud homme, and a memoir by Powell, Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (later retitled Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously). Both of these books were written and published between 2004 and 2006. Powell s book was based on her blog The Julie/Julia Project, where she documented online her daily experiences cooking each of the 524 recipes in Child s 1961 cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The film is the first major motion picture based on a blog.

In March 2008, Ephron began filming with Streep as Child and Adams as Powell. On July 30, 2009, the film officially premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York; and, on August 7, 2009, it opened throughout North America. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised Streep s performance. Streep and Adams previously starred together in Doubt (2008). Streep and Tucci previously starred together in The Devil Wears Prada (2006).

Julie & Julia was Ephron s last film before her death in 2012.

Box Office Budget

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Box Office Opening Weekend USA

$20,027,956

Box Office Gross USA

$94,125,426

Box Office Cumulative Worldwide Gross

$129,540,522

Keywords

Cook,cooking,blog,french cuisine,food