"Take your knife, CONFRONT the duck..."

Julie and Julia has been out on video for a while now and we'd managed to miss it until just a few days prior to the Oscar nominations. If this little gem has likewise eluded you this year, do yourself a favor and seek it out! Julie and Julia contrasts the blossoming culinary evolution of Julia Child in France with that of Amy Adams in present-day Manhattan as a blogger obsessed with preparing all 500+ Julia Child French cuisine recipes in just one year. Adams' present-day half of the film is disappointing, and even though this is probably the best film portrayal of a blogger to date, Adams seems to be channeling early-nineties Meg Ryan, right down to her earnest, pleading inflections. There are some winning moments, but whenever the film returns to early fifties Paris with a truly fascinating Julia Child and her devoted husband Stanley Tucci, the film soars.

Paris in this film is evoked as romantically yet believably as possible, out-enchanting even the Paris of Ratatouille, it's a glorious world of cheese and pastry, open air markets, copper kettles and of course, butter. Streep and Tucci are possibly the most romantic couple in films this year. Not overly glamorous, just two kindred spirits who genuinely love each other. There are moments where the real world casts shadows across their time in Paris, a quiet aching at fate leaving them childless, the dark specter of McCarthyism reaching across the Atlantic, threatening to upend their lives at the worst possible moment. But this is a glorious depiction of a married couple who are simply passionate best friends. When was the last time we saw that in a movie? Meryl Streep's Julia Child is a wonder. When I first heard of this movie, I assumed it would be some kind of groaning parody. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Please don't let any preconceptions of who Julia Child is or what you may have heard about the modern day scenes keep you from missing one of the most delightful, transporting and beautifully acted love stories about living life outside of expectation or convention. Julia Child reminds us that we all live in a world of culinary sensation where the strength of your spouse and best friend can give you the courage to believe anything is possible.

I have a very hard time believing anything Sandra Bullock does in The Blind Side (which admittedly, I have yet to see) could top the magic of Meryl in this splendid little movie. It's simply a joy.