Julie & Julia (2009)
This Nora Ephron comedy is one of my favourite comfort films. I’m such a fan of the flick, earlier this year I began a blog called Return to Blender in its honour, where I attempt to master the art of French cooking with a little help from Julia Child. New Yorker Julie Powell came up with the idea in 2002, chronicling her culinary efforts in a blog, which attracted such a following it got turned into a book in 2005, and a film four years later.
Julie & Julia flits between modern day New York and Paris in the ’50s, where Pasadena-born Child has just moved with her doting diplomat husband Paul (played by the captivatingly charismatic Stanley Tucci). Determined to be taken seriously as a chef, Child enrols on a course at Le Cordon Bleu and discovers she’s the only woman in the class. Undeterred, she’s soon beating the male chefs at their own game, chopping onions with the ferocity of a scorned samurai.
Back in New York, Powell dutifully makes her way through Child’s debut tome, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, steaming live lobsters and falling asleep while waiting for her boeuf Bourguignon to tenderise. While the food scenes are drool-worthy, the most charming aspect of the film is the relationship between Julia and Paul, which is built on mutual respect and a shared appetite for life.
