Emerging from the theater after seeing this film, my wife and I immediately concurred: Julia Child was right about Julie Powell.

Here we have a person (Powell) who is essentially cooking as a stunt in order to get a book deal and get filthy rich. Period. When she says “Julia saved me” she is not talking about spiritual transcendence; she is talking about assuaging her own ego from the ravages of feeling financially and professionally inferior to her friends. That’s why you never see her grow as a person – she basically just cashes in on her own narcissism. Oh, and I guess she overcomes her fear of boning a duck: big fucking deal. What does that make her, Joan of Arc?

Contrast her with Julia Child herself, who toiled for YEARS without any notion if anything would come of her work or if she would look back on it all as wasted time, always keeping good humor and staying focused on serving what she obviously felt in her heart was a worthy cause: bringing her love of French cooking to America. She worked really hard to bring something new into the world and make a difference in some way. Over time she succeeded, but it was not easy, and one is really struck by Child’s courage of conviction, originality  and determination, and the spirit of loving joy and adventure that she brought to this extended project and to her life in general.

So this film is a rather divided affair. The Julia Child section is fun and interesting (in a light, Nora Ephron kind of way.) The Julie Powell section is kind of slimy, and frankly a bit boring. You want to slap this person and tell her to grow up and contribute something original to the world, rather than just riding Julia Child’s talent and lifetime of effort to her own shallow little pay-day. And the fact that Julia Child refused to embrace this stunt (and in fact spoke out against it) makes me like and respect the quirky chef even more. Yay Julia!

Now, a word about the cast. I do not agree with A.O Scott that Meryl Streep acts circles around the younger generation of actresses. Meryl Streep is just okay as Julia Child. It is a spirited performance – she definitely has fun with it. But Streep’s MANY tics are (as usual) plainly evident throughout, and rather than actually losing yourself in her character you are always thinking “there’s Meryl Steep in a wig doing a spastic impersonation of Julia Child.” Stanley Tuchi is (for me) an actor who is really tough to like, but he brought a nice, warm presence to this small role. Amy Adams turns in another really good performance as the rather unlikable Julie Powell.  And lastly, it is really nice to see the fabulous Linda Emond getting some mainstream work as the supporting character Simone Beck.

Worshipers of food will most likely adore this film. When I saw it, the theater was full of “foodies” groaning out-loud at every dish. Not being a foodie, I did not respond to the movie in this way. And I found nothing interesting or enjoyable in the Julie Powell “rags to riches” tale. But the Julia Child section of the movie is fun, interesting and inspirational, and it makes the film worth seeing. I think they should have just made a film about Julia Child – there’s simply no getting around the fact that Julie Powell is really boring as the subject of a movie.