"The Butter To My Bread...The Breath To My Life"
I have had the opportunity to do something I haven't been able to do in a long time the past couple of weeks-watch movies.
I am a self confessed movie hound. A combination of working at Sono Cinema when it still existed, and then at Videosmith back when I was a student in Boston has left me with a higher end of taste when it comes to celluloid sampling. One of the benefits of Videosmith was renting movies for free-add in my massive insomnia and it made for a great deal of movie watching. I had forgotten how much I missed it.
One of the films I have recently had a chance to enjoy has been "Julie & Julia". To be fair I am biased when it comes to Meryl Streep-she is a master of dictation, taking any accent you could imagine, spinning the dialect as if she had been born speaking that precise way. She has the slight rough (and her own native) accent in "River Wild", the calm, calculated cool dulcet tones as Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada" and a Brooklyn edge in "Doubt"-I don't think I need to even mention her superb job in "Sophie's Choice"-I have known from working in the film industry that Meryl Streep's very name is synonymous with "Sophie's Choice"-her Polish accent made me think for years she came from there.
Watching "Julie & Julia" was, in a word, fun. Streep's performance as Julia Child is spot on, however she injects into the character her joyous and unashamed love of life and food. Stanley Tucci breathes life into Paul Child as a devoted, loving husband who even after years of marriage gazes upon his beloved wife as if they were newlyweds. The relationship between the Childs is why I enjoyed the movie so much-to the point that I am now planning on reading "My Life In France".
Theirs is a marriage of true equality-they are partners. They discuss every and anything. Despite her inability to have children-Paul is always willing to take the time to remind Julia that she is a woman, worthy of his love and attention. His support as she writes her one of a kind, unique book is both inspiring and touching. I believe that if Julia Child had decided to become an Astronaut, Paul Childs would be enrolling her in NASA to make it happen. That kind of love is a wonder to watch to begin with-having Streep and Tucci perform it gives it a reality-you BELIEVE they are these people. That kind of acting is amazing to see occur, and is the core of why I loved the movie so much.
I did find myself almost bored with the Julie Powell end of the movie however. This is not any fault of Amy Smart or Chris Messina, indeed their excellent acting made that part of the story bearable-it took me awhile to realize why I found Powell's part of the story annoying and then it hit me. I don't like her as a person. She is a bitch to her husband, selfish and thinks only of herself. I had discovered prior to seeing the movie that she cheated on her "sainted" husband which made me mad that she would do that to someone so supportive of her antics. They say he cheated as well-but given the self centered person she comes off as-that is almost understandable.
Amy Smart gave the character way more innocence and sweetness than Powell deserved. This is no fault of Smart-she just has that air about her-she is sweet. Her performance in "Doubt" was so effective due to this sweet nature that shines through. She tries so hard to be bitchy and it just doesn't work. Her passion for the cooking however was perfect. Powell's obsession with Julia Child is given a very real life result-apparently Childs felt Powell's blog and project was disrespectful. The devastation upon discovering that her hero disapproves is one of the best scenes Smart is given. There is a scene recreating Powell dressing up as Julia for a birthday party that made me uncomfortable-particularly when she said "Bon Appetite"-Powell dreams of channeling Childs, worships her and dares to compare herself and her marriage to Julia. I would be hard pressed to see Julia cheat on Paul. Messina's Eric Powell is great-he is supportive, funny and amused by his wife's antics-he does get annoyed after awhile, but gets over it. He does call her out on her over the top actions, and for that I am grateful-it proves that someone saw this as unstable as I did.
To be honest-had the entire movie just been about the Childs, I would have watched it happily-when I had it OnDemand and could fast forward, I did to their scenes. Powell's contribution can be that because of that blog, this movie was made and I am grateful for this, as seeing the Childs relationship and the effective chemistry of Streep & Tucci (reunited from "The Devil Wears Prada") made for a more than satisfying film. However, and again this is in no way meaning to discredit Smart or Messina-I just didn't care about the Powells-the Childs shone more as a great and believable couple.
Paul Child once said to Julia she was his "butter to my bread, the breath to my life"-to have anyone feel that way about you-consider yourself blessed.
I have had the opportunity to do something I haven't been able to do in a long time the past couple of weeks-watch movies.
I am a self confessed movie hound. A combination of working at Sono Cinema when it still existed, and then at Videosmith back when I was a student in Boston has left me with a higher end of taste when it comes to celluloid sampling. One of the benefits of Videosmith was renting movies for free-add in my massive insomnia and it made for a great deal of movie watching. I had forgotten how much I missed it.
One of the films I have recently had a chance to enjoy has been "Julie & Julia". To be fair I am biased when it comes to Meryl Streep-she is a master of dictation, taking any accent you could imagine, spinning the dialect as if she had been born speaking that precise way. She has the slight rough (and her own native) accent in "River Wild", the calm, calculated cool dulcet tones as Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada" and a Brooklyn edge in "Doubt"-I don't think I need to even mention her superb job in "Sophie's Choice"-I have known from working in the film industry that Meryl Streep's very name is synonymous with "Sophie's Choice"-her Polish accent made me think for years she came from there.
Watching "Julie & Julia" was, in a word, fun. Streep's performance as Julia Child is spot on, however she injects into the character her joyous and unashamed love of life and food. Stanley Tucci breathes life into Paul Child as a devoted, loving husband who even after years of marriage gazes upon his beloved wife as if they were newlyweds. The relationship between the Childs is why I enjoyed the movie so much-to the point that I am now planning on reading "My Life In France".
Theirs is a marriage of true equality-they are partners. They discuss every and anything. Despite her inability to have children-Paul is always willing to take the time to remind Julia that she is a woman, worthy of his love and attention. His support as she writes her one of a kind, unique book is both inspiring and touching. I believe that if Julia Child had decided to become an Astronaut, Paul Childs would be enrolling her in NASA to make it happen. That kind of love is a wonder to watch to begin with-having Streep and Tucci perform it gives it a reality-you BELIEVE they are these people. That kind of acting is amazing to see occur, and is the core of why I loved the movie so much.
I did find myself almost bored with the Julie Powell end of the movie however. This is not any fault of Amy Smart or Chris Messina, indeed their excellent acting made that part of the story bearable-it took me awhile to realize why I found Powell's part of the story annoying and then it hit me. I don't like her as a person. She is a bitch to her husband, selfish and thinks only of herself. I had discovered prior to seeing the movie that she cheated on her "sainted" husband which made me mad that she would do that to someone so supportive of her antics. They say he cheated as well-but given the self centered person she comes off as-that is almost understandable.
Amy Smart gave the character way more innocence and sweetness than Powell deserved. This is no fault of Smart-she just has that air about her-she is sweet. Her performance in "Doubt" was so effective due to this sweet nature that shines through. She tries so hard to be bitchy and it just doesn't work. Her passion for the cooking however was perfect. Powell's obsession with Julia Child is given a very real life result-apparently Childs felt Powell's blog and project was disrespectful. The devastation upon discovering that her hero disapproves is one of the best scenes Smart is given. There is a scene recreating Powell dressing up as Julia for a birthday party that made me uncomfortable-particularly when she said "Bon Appetite"-Powell dreams of channeling Childs, worships her and dares to compare herself and her marriage to Julia. I would be hard pressed to see Julia cheat on Paul. Messina's Eric Powell is great-he is supportive, funny and amused by his wife's antics-he does get annoyed after awhile, but gets over it. He does call her out on her over the top actions, and for that I am grateful-it proves that someone saw this as unstable as I did.
To be honest-had the entire movie just been about the Childs, I would have watched it happily-when I had it OnDemand and could fast forward, I did to their scenes. Powell's contribution can be that because of that blog, this movie was made and I am grateful for this, as seeing the Childs relationship and the effective chemistry of Streep & Tucci (reunited from "The Devil Wears Prada") made for a more than satisfying film. However, and again this is in no way meaning to discredit Smart or Messina-I just didn't care about the Powells-the Childs shone more as a great and believable couple.
Paul Child once said to Julia she was his "butter to my bread, the breath to my life"-to have anyone feel that way about you-consider yourself blessed.
posted by Chris @ 6:23 AM
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