JULIE AND JULIA: Meryl triumphs in culinary smackdown

JULIE AND JULIA pits "old" Hollywood against one of cinema's hottest up and coming actresses but the final result is never in doubt. Meryl Streep easily wipes the floor with perky newcomer Amy Adams.
The film's not intended to be an intergenerational boxing match but it's difficult to avoid making the comparisons. It's not often that we get to see a film with two strong female leads given equal screen time and acting in their own spaces. 
JULIE AND JULIA is about the relationship which develops between 30 year old New Yorker Julie Powell (Adams) and legendary tv chef Julia Child (Streep) although the two never meet. Separated by space and time the connection is Childs' famous cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" which inspires Julie to attempt to create all 524 recipes in one year while writing a blog charting her efforts.
Julie's progress is mirrored by Julia's, from bored wife of an American diplomat (Stanley Tucci) in late 40s Paris through her apprenticeship in cordon bleu to the final publication of her book.
Streep effortlessly dominates as the warbly-voiced, slightly bohemian and definitely tall Childs. Hers is a character which lends itself to easy parody but it's a measure of Streep's talent and experience that while her jaws may occasionally lock on the scenery she never resorts to gnawing it. She keeps Childs' real while also expressing her unrestrained uniqueness.
Julie by comparison is small and mousey and ordinary. The story unconsciously suggests that modern day living has sucked all of the individuality out of us. Perhaps it's just a severe case of rose-tinted glasses syndrome but life and people were more vibrant, more alive, 60 years ago. Julia is irrepressibly optimistic while Julie is weighed down by the burdens of the world.

Perhaps it's not entirely fair to compare the two as equals. Julia was living the relatively privileged life of a diplomat's wife, while Julie is a government worker, trapped in a cubicle in downtown Manhattan taking phone calls all day from relatives of those killed and injured in the Twin Towers attack on 9/11. Perhaps the deck was stacked in Streep's favour before a single foot of film had ever been shot, but she's not an star given to scene-stealing or diva demands. She did her thing while Adams did hers, and experience won out.
Just as Gena Rowlands blew Kate Hudson off the screen in the otherwise eminently forgettable "The Skeleton Key" so does the 60 year old Streep demonstrate how age and a few wrinkles can make for a more satisfying performance than the youth and a perfect figure which Hollywood studios believe we want to see all the time.