Chick Flick

Yesterday was my 40th wedding anniversary, meaning that it was time to take Mrs. bee to the movie of her choice. Besides the special occasion, I owe her one because she went with me to see Public Enemies, which had more shooting and violence than she usually cares to watch.

Her choice today was Julie and Julia, written and directed by Nora Ephron, with Meryl Streep playing Julia Child. I'd be lying if I said I'd been eagerly awaiting the chance to see this picture, but it turned out to be not too bad. There are four reasons why:

First, Meryl Streep. When she reaches the stage where she's receiving lifetime achievement awards, someone who's presenting her trophy will say that a role was never written that Meryl Streep couldn't play with near perfection, and he'll be right. She really captures the speech and mannerisms of Julia Child, and it was hard to remember I was watching the same actress I enjoyed so much in A Prairie Home Companion.

Second, Nora Ephron. I'm not an expert on chick flicks, but she's directed two of the best I've seen, Sleepless In Seattle and You've Got Mail. Having Tom Hanks as the leading man in both definitely helped, of course. Ephron also wrote When Harry Met Sally, easily one of my favorite romantic comedies, so her track record is above average. Julie and Julia isn't in the same class as those three, but it's reasonably close.

Third, Amy Adams. She plays Julie Powell, who wrote the book upon which the movie's based. I'd seen her in Catch Me If You Can and Doubt, and was starting to have a small crush on her, similar to the ones I developed for Renee Zellweger and a few other actresses during the earlier years of this decade. Amy Adams is as cute as a bug in this movie, and I'm almost ready to put her in a class with Renee and Kirsten Dunst.

Finally, a substantial part of the movie involves blogging, which Julie takes up as part of an effort to get life working for her again. In the movie she starts out slowly, convinced the only person reading her blog is her mother down in Texas, but she eventually attains a followership and the sort of broader success that most people who do this only fantasize about. Since I've taken up the activity myself and therefore have a feel for what it's like, the scenes of Amy sitting at her laptop's keyboard at night felt like a visit home for me.

Rated about 7.5, and worth a look as a superior example of the chick flick genre.