Movie Review: Julie and Julia

When I saw the first trailer for Julie & Julia, I wanted to see it. I wanted to do it! Of course, that is the point of a trailer, to make you want to see the movie. So this past weekend, we went out and saw it. I have to admit I started having some doubts when elderly person after elderly person started entering the theater in front of us. We weren't the youngest people there though as I saw a mom take two girls in the 7-10 age range in.

I don't want to give you any spoilers, but here is my review. The movie started off a bit slow I thought, but was definitely worth seeing. It made me smile and laugh through most of it. There were a couple of sad moments, but nothing that brought me to tears. It did inspire me to want to cook even more. It was very interesting to see how Julia Child became the fantastic cook that she was and how her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking came to be. As for Julie's story, I didn't find it quite as interesting, but it was still fun to watch her cooking "experiences" as she worked her way through Julia's cookbook.

As to family friendliness, it is "Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some sensuality." That is pretty much spot on. No violence, no death (besides lobster), and no nudity was seen, though Julie was shown in her underwear. There were references to sex and both couples had scenes (with kissing, etc) leading up to more intimate moments, but those moments were not shown. The language was strong at some points, I recall one F-word and one B-word for sure, but as the rating said it was brief at each encounter.

A great thing about the movie is it inspires all ages to cook. I wouldn't have thought it reaches all ages but it does. As I said the theater was full of an older crowd, then there was Erv and I, and the Mom with two young girls. I overheard the two girls talking to their mom after their movie. They were asking her if they could get Julia's cookbook and cook their way through it. She told them they could probably find the book online, but they were going to be skipping the chapter on gelatins!