Julie and Julia

I can't remember the last time I watched a movie that made me smile, laugh, cry, and feel completely involved with each of the characters.


Julie and Julia is just such a movie, and as I watched it tonight (alone, since Nathan is at a rehearsal) I kept bursting into smiles and looking lovingly (and no doubt stupidly) at the beautiful people on the screen. Meryl Streep is wonderful, of course. When she cries, you will cry, and when she smiles, you will beam right back at her. Amy Adams is the sort of character you just feel instantly connected with, and possesses a certain Meg Ryan-esque charm. And Jane Lynch makes a cameo appearance! Need I say more? And when was the last time you saw a film that depicted solid, down-to-earth love between married couples? Not a movie that starts with attraction, middles in affection and passion, and ends in marriage (isn't marriage the beginning of love rather than the end, anyway?), mind you, but a movie that starts in the middle of long and lasting marriages (one of them lovely and the other quite imperfect, as I suppose many marriages are) and celebrates the everyday from the mundane to the extraordinary.

Watch the trailer here. Then watch the whole film - it's available on Netflix instant viewing! And the blog that launched the book that launched the movie, while no longer being updated, is still up.