it's not just about food

Last night I saw the movie Julie and Julia, written and directed by Nora Ephron. Normally, when a movie comes out that I really want to see, I refuse to watch any promotional interviews and ads because I want to be surprised. This was one of those movies. Of course, now I want to go back and find any Nora Ephron interviews, so if anyone knows of any, send 'em on. And if you're like me and need to shut out the world until you've seen the film, and haven't seen Julie and Julia yet, then for the first time I'll tell you to skip today's blogpost!

Four reasons why I loved this movie:

1. Written and directed by Nora Ephron.
Need I say more? Ephron has successfully interwoven two stories of two very different women living different lives in different times, and yet manages to create parallels and that so wonderfully connect the two. Brilliant. Plus, Ephron includes her signature charm and grace in terms of costume, style, language, music, and, of course, food. Ephron herself is a renowned cook and food lover, having tackled many recipes in the Julia Child cookbook and writing about it.

2. Starring Meryl Streep.
Again, need I say more? Streep puts on another Oscar-worthy performance. Unlike the caricature portrayals of George Bush and company in W, Streep brings Julia Child to life as a lover of pleasurable things, one who fully embraces life and love (and, of course, food -- that phrase will undoubtedly be repeated at least one more time). She is strong-willed, self-sufficient, disciplined, yet also vulnerable. You can see an extraordinary woman, one who lived behind the icon that we all came to know and love.

3. Delicious.
Everything about this movie was delicious: the writing, the story, and (wait for it), of course, the food. I love films where food becomes a supporting character (Chocolat comes to mind), and this was one of them. Better still, it didn't dominate the film like one might expect. This film is clearly about the story. Which leads me to my final reason.

4. A love story.
Love stories abound in this film, and Ephron tells them all brilliantly. Julia and Paul. Julie and Eric. Julie and Julia. Julia and her sister. Julia and Paris. Julia and food. Julie and food. Us and Julie and Julia and food. And so on. Everywhere we turn, love abounds. True love. Simple love. Magical love. Transformative love.

Yesterday I posted about the love for my manuscript. My co-writer and I knew we were writing a love story with the same kind of multi-levels as this film has. I can only hope that we do our novel the same justice that Ephron did for Julie and Julia. And if she wants to make a movie out of our novel, so be it.

Nora Ephron rocks. Meryl Streep rocks. Go see Julie and Julia today. And Bon Appetit!