Julie/Julia

Since I saw the trailer for the movie, Julie & Julia, I have been interested in this movie/book. I guess it was the cooking aspect and the intrigue of French food--that stuff that some of it seems so plain, but is so difficult to cook right. Biographies of people are also becoming interesting to me as I get older as well, so this one seemed right up my alley. I mean, if I were to do it all over again, I might have gone to culinary school and actually, I may even take some serious cooking classes later in life. So, on our trip to California I picked up the book and began some light reading. Something I never get to do otherwise.

The premise is that this nearly 30 year old Austin-turned-New York-Democrat was feeling lost in her life and decided she needed a project. (Right there I should have had some kind of flashing warning light.) Julie went back home to visit Mom and rediscovered Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Julie decides to cook all 500+ recipes from this book within a year and blog about it. (Another hook that drew me in-she's a blogger and still has her site.) Besides the profanity, it was very funny and interesting to hear her take on cooking many of these recipes.

It all ended well and Julie finished all 500+ recipes in a year and became somewhat "famous." As she closes the book, she tells of the moment when her Mom calls to tell her Julia Child died the eve of her 92nd birthday. Julia had heard of Julie and didn't have anything truly "nice" to say to her, but Julie didn't care. She had her own Julia in her head and that is how Julia Child would live on in eternity. Not in heaven "eating sole meuniere with her husband, Paul." Julie even goes so far as to say that she doesn't "believe in heaven." What a disappointment and the true reason why in the first place she felt like she was lost and in a dead end job. Julie claims that Julia is the one who pulled her out of the ocean as she was nearly drowning.

Sad. Instead of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, it should have been the Bible. Instead of Julia Child, it should have been Jesus. I was just disappointed in the ending. Had she just left it as "I finished all the recipes and made a pilgrimage to Julia Child's exhibit at the Smithsonian and left a pound of butter." I would have been fine. Cute, funny and entertaining.

I still want to go see the movie tomorrow, just to see how they end it. I'll add an addendum and you can decide if you want to go see it yourself.

Addendum: I loved the movie. It ended just the way it should. Meryl Streep was fantastic and there were many more added scenes of her.