Product Details

• Actors: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Linda Emond
• Directors: Nora Ephron
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: December 8, 2009
• Run Time: 123 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (406 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002RSDW80
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,486 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #70 in Movies & TV > DVD > Romance
• For more information about "Julie & Julia" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Julie & Julia is a film that should be relished with gusto--accompanied by the freshest and best ingredients, pounds of butter, and bottles of the very best wine. It lovingly celebrates the life of one of American food's most influential and beloved figureheads: Julia Child--played here with zest, humor, and a sweet, subtle respect by Meryl Streep, whose performance is spectacular.

Julie & Julia is based on the book by Julie Powell, a frustrated New York bureaucrat who wants to be a writer. "But you're not a writer until someone publishes you," she moans. So she gives herself a challenge: to cook her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year, and to blog about it. As Powell (played with chirpy determination by Amy Adams), begins to find her groove as a cook, and her voice as a writer, the project takes on a life of its own--and in the end it does provide the struggling young woman with her life's purpose, to her very pleasant surprise. But mostly, Julie & Julia is a valentine to Child, to Child's amazing love affair with her dashing husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci, as divine as any soufflé in the film), and to her outlook on embracing life, and ordering seconds. Streep throws herself into the Child role with real affection for her character, and while certain of Child's idiosyncrasies--including her warbly voice and unflappable haphazardness in the kitchen--are retained, it's Child's character and vision which form Streep's portrayal, and which make the film so involving and rewarding.

Nora Ephron directs with deftness and a light touch, though she seems at times to be encouraging some of Meg Ryan's onscreen tics in Adams (the self-conscious head tilt, for one). But mostly she simply allows Streep to channel Child and her love of food, her husband, and 1950s Paris. And that is a recipe for something truly sublime. --A.T. Hurley

Product Description

A culinary legend provides a frustrated office worker with a new recipe for life in Julie & Julia, the true stories of how Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) life and cookbook inspired fledgling writer Julie Powell (Amy Adams) to whip up 524 recipes in 365 days and introduce a new generation to the magic of French cooking. Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) co-stars in director Nora Ephron's delicious comedy about joy, obsession and butter. Bon appétit!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

234 of 271 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars for Film, No Stars for DVD Special Features Manipulation, November 18, 2009

By 

IVE (California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Julie & Julia (DVD)

Well, I guess it's finally happened...the consumer and film buff who does not own a Blue-Ray compatible DVD player is now officially SOL. The standard DVD release of Julie and Julia contains as special features only a commentary track and behind-the-scenes featurette. To get the full array of special features, one must purchase the Blue-Ray version of the film, AND of course, a Blue-Ray dvd player. Here are the features NOT available on the standard dvd: tour of Julia Child's kitchen in the Smithsonian; featurette "Friends and Family Remember Julia Child;" and "Cooking Lessons," with Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and other renowned chefs preparing several of Julia Child's best-loved dishes. Why can't the studio release a two-disc special edition in the standard format for consumers like me who don't own the latest home entertainment equipment? I loved the film (especially The Divine Ms. Streep), loved Julia Child's book "My Life in France," very much liked Julie Powell's book "J & J," and can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to owning the DVD. I'm miffed, and in no position to go out and buy myself a new DVD player in this economy, not even at Christmas. This really stinks. So, five stars for the film itself, no stars for the DVD release manipulation.

89 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Behind Every Great Woman There Stands a Great Man . . ., August 7, 2009

By 

Diana F. Von Behren "reneofc" (Kenner, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

What in the world does television and concocting-French-food-in-America pioneer Julia Child have in common with just 30-something government employee turned food blogger, Julie Powell?

Other than the love of food, oodles of butter and a big project to fill the need for purpose, the two main characters in Nora Ephron's biopic, "Julie and Julia" share great marriages with men that are not put off by their mate's desire for self-identity defined by more than a few little bouts of self-absorption. Like a good soufflé, Ephron folds the stories told in two books, Powell's "Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously" and Child's "My Life in France" without deflating the overall mixture, although this reviewer would have enjoyed more scenes with the wonderfully talented Meryl Streep who redeems herself quite well (all high-pitched voice, champagne bubbly laughter and squared shoulders) as the indomitable and effusive Julia from her most un-defining role as Donna in that "Mamma Mia! The Movie (Widescreen)" debacle.

Ephron depicts 1950s Paris with a foodie's appreciation for what that city did and still does for the world of cuisine--from the very first glimpse of Julia's luncheon of sole meunière--the waiter delectably filets the fish's sumptuous flesh tableside to the audiences' very audible groans of anticipation of and appreciation for its buttery taste, but she also does well by Long Island City and its tangle of grey-tinged tenements, elevated trains and apartments over pizza parlors. Somehow, both Julie and Julia know where to get their ingredients and manage beat, chop (extremely amusing is a scene of Julia alongside a mountain of practice cut onions) and coerce calf's feet, lobsters and ducks into exquisite works of edible art. The luscious chocolate cakes, whipped creams and raspberry mousse tantalizes like the food porn that it is--a sensual and lascivious reminder to what is truly important in life--you will leave the theater hungry.

Along that line, the two couples, Paul (Stanley Tucci) and Julia and Eric (Chris Messina) and Julie either act as the aphrodisiacs for the food or allow the food to whisk them away in the general direction of the bedroom where dessert or in some cases appetizers segue into the joy of sex and more sex--no wonder Julia was always smiling. Both male characters offer their women encouragement along the lines of the supporting architectural buttresses on the Cathedral of Notre Dame even when faced by what may seem a bit of an "I Love Lucy" type scheme. Regardless, both these ladies made their ideas work whether by design or serendipity and Ephron, wisely asserts that it is their good marriages that deserve the credit--even though the real life Powell has an affair which she chronicles in her not-yet-published memoir about learning the art of the butcher.

Amy Adams' portrayal of Julie Powell seems a little seeped in too much sugar especially if one has read the Julie/Julia Project blog or the book that bears the same name as the film. In her version, Ephron sanitizes the conservative-hating Powell, cleans up her apartment, washes out her rather profane mouth and thankfully eliminates the girlfriend dramas that take up a third of the memoir. However, the slim-figured Adams' whose character claims to have gained weight after a year of rich French cuisine simply seems slim and still glows with that Giselle insouciance and naiveté she did so well in the Disney film "Enchanted (Widescreen Edition)." Even so, Adams' innate cuteness and 20-something sense of searching works adequately as a foil for the larger than life Streep as the formidable Child.

Bottom Line? Nora Ephron's "Julie and Julia" chronicles the projects of two women from two very different generations with similar needs. As a combination foodie/chick flick, it works very well in its depiction of determination and the power of a slow and steady perseverance that ultimately leads to success. However, "Julie and Julia" main thrust seems to be a tribute to good marriages where behind every great women stands an equally great and supportive male. Recommended.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"

45 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALL THE ACTORS SHINE, August 8, 2009

By 

Elton T. Elliott - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

I went to see the movie, Julie and Julia solely on the idea that any project Meryl Streep is involved in would automatically be good. I couldn't imagine before going to see it how they would possibly work the storyline because it was based on two memoirs, one each by the two women involved. Meryl Streep played Julia Child and Amy Adams played Julie Powell. Because of her immense respect for Julia Child and her love of cooking Julie Powell decided to set aside 365 days to cook for her husband and herself and as it turned out several other people 524 of Julia Child's recipes. It started out as a way of breaking the boredom of her day job, an escape from having to live in such a tiny apartment, and a means of teaching her self-discipline by sticking to a planned regimen on a day to day basis. The result, however, turned out to be much more than that.

Julia Child had and Julie Powell has a very important knowledge about what makes good food great. Great food is like great sex; both of them have to be more than just "ok" to bring a smile to your face that lasts for days every time you think about it. And both women shared in common the idea that delicious French food should be available to the average American family even if you don't have servants that cook for you or an income that allows you to eat out at a fabulous French restaurant any time you like. Both of them had wonderful husbands who supported and encouraged their dreams of rising above the drab existence of living vicariously on the accomplishments of their men. The film captures beautifully the difficulty of that task for both Julie and Julia. Both of them had forces fighting against their achieving their goals, but the love that was evident in each of their marriages overcame every one of them.

One of the posters for the film is a one-sided poster with a black background, two eggs (one brown and one white), and the question posed, "Passion. Ambition. Butter. Do you have what it takes?" When the movie is over, that question's answer is for both women a resounding "Yes, but as is always the case, neither of them did it alone". The fact that they didn't do it alone though takes nothing away from the uniqueness of their accomplishments.