Based on the novel of the same name by Julie Powell and My Life in France, an autobiography by Julia Child, the film focuses on 2 different women from 2 different times. There is Julie Powell, an aspired writer who talks about Julia Child’s recipes on her blog during the year 2002. And there is Julia Child, who is learning how to cook and is getting famous in 1949.

Julie Powell works in New York City, although her job doesn’t always treat her well. At some point, she wants to cook more.

Sometime later, she gets a cookbook written by Julia Child and tries different recipes from it. However, her mother discourages her from this. But she is determined to cook from this book.

Julie’s husband, Eric, supports her. He even suggests to her to start a blog about this. And he gives her a deadline within a year, despite the large number of recipes in the book.

Although she is resistant to that deadline at first, Julie eventually accepts it. She starts having fun writing about her cooking experience every single day, including the failures.

“Meanwhile,” in 1949, Julia Child is living in Paris with her husband, Paul. She discovers her passion for French cooking and takes lots of cooking classes.

However, she wants more than that. She wishes to publish a cookbook—except that no one will accept it. But Paul encourages her to keep trying. In the meantime, she can take more cooking classes.

Years later, Julia is finally able to publish her book. And Paul is proud of her.

In 2002, Julie continues to spend a lot of time on her blog. While working on it, she ends up getting into a fight with Eric, who then leaves her.

Regardless of that, though, Julie continues to blog. It eventually attracts literary agents, publishers, journalists, and many others who want to turn her blog into a book or show.

What will happen next?

This movie engaged me all the way through. That being said, the middle was a little bit boring. I think it’s because there was not much tension then.

But for the rest of the movie, the conflict was strong—particularly with Julie Powell. She and Eric didn’t always get along. But Eric still loved her.

I also admire her passion for cooking and pretending that Julia Child was her friend. I even applaud her for talking about her negative experiences, such as burning a one-pot meal.

Julie had a lot of flaws and stress, which made her feel believable. Julia Child, on the other hand, was positive and enthusiastic. Yet that’s a good thing since that made her likable. Her relationship with Paul was sweet, although I think it was a bit too much for her to put a picture of him and her in the bath on a postcard. Honestly, that should stay private.

Julia was also determined to cook and share her recipes. And she did experience conflict, too, but not in the same way as Julie.

As with many good films, the pacing was usually quick in this one. And the constant point-of-view switching did NOT confuse me one bit. And each scene, whether it was from Julie or Julia’s POV, was just the right length with the correct amount of information needed. Not one moment lagged, even though this movie is around 2 hours long.

Overall, I enjoyed Julie & Julia. Note that this movie is rated PG-13 for language, intimacy, and smoking.

Anyway, I give this film 4 out of 5 stars.