Writer: Lai Swee Wei

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Watch this if you liked: “Mrs. Doubtfire” “Bridget Jones’s Diary”

Based on two true stories, "Julie & Julia" shares its title with Julie Powell's 2002 book about her plan to chop, stir, bake and whip her way through Julia Child's 1961 gastronomical cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". It is also based on Child's autobiographical volume "My Life in France." The movie intertwines the lives of two women, though separated by time and space, shows viewers that anything is possible with determination and in a way has an underlining message to inspire people to pick up cooking.

Upon arriving in Paris in 1948 with her husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci), Julia (Meryl Streep) is overtaken by the French cuisine in particular and soon picks up the art of French cooking. We follow her from her education alongside unfriendly male competition at the Cordon Bleu school to her friendship with Simone Beck (Linda Emond) and Louisette Bertholle (Helen Carey) - her eventual collaborators on the cookbook that no publisher would initially accept.

Inspired by Julia Child's cookbook, government secretary Julie undertakes a quest for something more to her life by challenging herself to cook all 524 recipes within a year and records them in a blog dubbed "The Julie/Julia Project" bearing the liner "Nobody here but us servantless American cooks..." We see her learn how to bone a duck, make a mouth watering boeuf bourguignon and master the proper technique for poaching an egg. Gradually, her blog gains popularity.

No doubt, the biggest show stealer here is both Julia and Julie's cooking expenditures. The beauty of butter is explored and also some great tips on cooking are shared - best to eat before watching this. Watching Meryl Streep chop, flip and cook was a delightful scene to catch as well as Amy Adam's fear of killing lobsters.

Streep was splendid for her role as the influential American cook with a smile so infectious. She exudes the warmth of the character and ultimately reminds this reviewer oh-so-much of Robin Williams in "Mrs Doubtfire" with a high-pitched tone of voice. The chemistry between her and actor Tucci was inevitable and you can't help but feel the romance within their on-screen marriage. Adams played convincingly as a person who is struggling reach her goal. You'll sympathise and eventually fall in love with her character as Adams does have that lovable aura. Shame both actresses don't get to have on-screen time together.

Constantly switches between the two lives, it was a great concept but due to the length of the runtime, it got too draggy to handle. Thankfully, the ending was as sweet as a lollipop as two ladies found fame and fulfilment.

Cinema Online, 22 October 2009