Adaptation Choices:
Character Portrayals:
Narrative Structure:
Emphasis on Themes:
Visual and Cinematic Elements:
Cooking and Food Imagery:
Development of Relationships:
Pacing and Compression:
Impact on Emotional Engagement:
Critical Reception:
1. Be prepared for sexual innuendos and offensive language. You wouldn’t guess it from the film — and I don’t suppose they cared to include a lot of it — but much of what Julie writes about compares Julia’s cooking with gratuitous actions. I think it can be best summed up with this quote, “If ‘The Joy of Sex’ was my first taste of sin, ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ was my second.” I don’t think when Julia was writing her cookbook that she realized marrow tasted like “really good sex” or how Ritz a l’Indienne is code for “Bitch Rice.” These phrases almost make Julia’s hateful reaction to Julie’s cooking project understandable. I guess that’s what you get for honesty. Despite these seemingly awkward tidbits, they actually offer a comedic relief to Powell’s inability to maintain much patience while trying to master all these recipes (not that I can blame her). Like I said, just be prepared.
2. Don’t expect to read much about Julia’s history behind her claim to fame. The film took much more liberty in reverting back to Julia’s history than the book, from her first taste of French food in Paris to finally getting her famous cookbook published, and much of which comes from Julia’s book “My Life in Paris.” The “Julie and Julia” book does contain some excerpts from Julia’s life before marrying her husband Paul, but mostly focuses on Julie’s journey through cooking and blogging. I would have appreciated more content surrounding Julia, possibly utilizing the letters Paul and Julia wrote to people during their time in Paris. You don’t really get a sense of who Julia is, despite Julie’s fascination with her. Making connections between two very different points in history between these two strong females may have been more interesting and uplifting at times when Julie’s impatience gets the better of her.
3. Julia Powell vs. Amy Adams. If you start reading this book with the image of Julie as this adorable, sweet wife, think again. Much like the #1 difference I wrote about above, Julie is far from the character portrayed by the loveable Amy Adams. I’m sure the film took a lot of liberty with making Julie come across as more relatable but after reading the book, it feels like a different person entirely. With the book Julie, there’s a bipolar outburst about every other page, much more talk of giving up and not as much of a loving relationship between her and her husband (they later divorced soon after the book was published). Knowing what I know now about the personality of Julie, Amy Adam’s character just comes across as fake — some made up scenario that Hollywood thought would be more appealing to viewers. If anything, I’d much rather of seen Julie as who she really was. We all curse like a sailor from time to time or feel like giving up when all hope is lost. She’s a real woman who was struggling in her search for joy in life and who eventually found it through Julia Child — and frankly shouldn’t of been portrayed as anything less.
"Eat Pray Love" (2010):
"The Hundred-Foot Journey" (2014):
"Chef" (2014):
"Ratatouille" (2007):
"Chocolat" (2000):
"Under the Tuscan Sun" (2003):
"No Reservations" (2007):
"Burnt" (2015):
"Like Water for Chocolate" (1992):