JULIE AND JULIA-THE RANT-SPOILERS

I didn't want to see this film. I didn't expect to like it. In fact i expected to leave half way through it as i was merely killing time whilst waiting for my train. Once it began however I was thoroughly shocked to discover that i was loving it, providing me with my biggest shock reaction of the year.

After the utter travesty of Bewitched i had lost all faith in Writer/Director Nora Ephron. Anyone who manages to elicit a performance from Nicole Kidman more frozen than her face should be viewed with utter distrust!

Another factor in my initial dismissal was perhaps one of the worst trailers of the year. The editor seemed to piece together the most boring scenes of the film coupled with Julia's most outrageous moments, leading me to believe that perhaps she was suffering from some kind of mental disability.

Julie and Julia however signals a return to form for Ephron as both a writer and director, managing to deliver one of the most charming films of the year.

Ephron had the unenviable task of telling two autobiographical tales within the one film, a fete she manages with flawless gravitas. The alternate stories interweave perfectly with both managing to engage equally. This being said it's Meryl Streep's turn as Julia Child however that really manages to steal the show.

Streep once again proves that she's the greatest living actress of all time. There's talent and then there's Streep talent. I give her much kudos for avoiding the tendency of actors to turn real life subjects into caricatures of themselves. Amazingly she manages to make the larger than life Child endearingly human. You can't help but fall in love with the character who Streep plays with such humor and yet subtle poignancy that a sixteenth Oscar nomination seems well on the way.

Adams is much less successful in her role as Julie Powell. In fairness to her the character is not particularly likable. Considering it's Powell's job to deal with people suffering great tragedy in the aftermath of 9/11 on a daily basis, you'd think that her biggest problems (the fact that she lives in Queens and isn't where she wants to be in her career) would be put into some perspective. But alas, she mopes around as if she's in a Russian Gulag most of the time, acting as though surviving the trauma of turning thirty is tantamount to surviving cancer. Whilst Adams can't help the way the character is written her performance lacks the charm necessary to help the audience forgive her characters faults. Usually one of the best things in any movie, Adams performance falls uncharacteristically flat. She is given good support in the form of Chris Messina as her 'saint' of a husband Eric, but the couples relationship seems somewhat off, due to the fact that Eric is always playing second fiddle to Julie's juvenile whims and complaints. It's not a good sign in a Romcom when you want to say to the guy "I so would not blame you if you had an affair". After a rather bad fight between the two Julie admits her faults and wins her husband back after he leaves. You think that perhaps this signals a change in her character but no, even more complaints and self centeredness abound for the rest of the film.

Coming across far better is the relationship between Julia and her husband Paul played by Stanley Tucci, one of the finest and most under appreciated character actors working today. In the wrong hands his role could have been completely buried next to Streep's tour de force performance. Their relationship is one of the best things in Julie and Julia providing some of the most humorous and touching moments of the entire film.

The movie languishes a little in the second half, as the writing of Mastering The Art of French Cooking seems to take as much time to portray on film as it took to write in real life (eight years)
The ending itself also manages to seem somewhat abrupt, alost as if someone said "Shit it's going to long! Just end it here"

Despite this Julie and Julia is the best Romcom of the year. After the shiteous likes of The Ugly Truth and The Proposal, Julie and Julia gives us hope that Romcoms can be something more than shameless excuses for a paycheck for past their prime actors and actresses. It also qualifies as the film most likely to give you the munchies. I felt like i gained a pound just from watching it! Definitely worth seeing