Julie and Julia

Starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Directed by Nora Ephron. M

REVIEWED BY DAVID MANNING

Last updated 13:44 29/10/2009

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What a marvellous actress Meryl Streep continues to be, with this doyenne of the screen giving yet another wonderful performance playing famous cook Julia Child in this charming culinary comedy.

Amy Adams is no slouch either as the Julie in the title but Streep steals the show, again displaying her gift for accents and mannerisms as writer-director Nora Ephron tells how Child became a cook and wrote the first French cookbook in English, eventually titled Mastering the Art of French Cooking, for "the servantless American cook".

One of these is 30-year-old Julie Powell, married and working in New York – a government employee by day and renegade foodie by night. In 2002, she sets out to cook all 524 recipes in Child's seminal cookbook in 365 days – and write a blog on her progress.

Julie's tale is, in screen time, the dominant one – why her name is first in the title, which is also the title of the book she wrote, which Ephron based her screenplay on, along with Child's memoir, My Life in France.

But the movie is injected with effervescence whenever it switches to Streep as Julia, which focuses on her as a 36-year-old in Paris from 1949. If sweet and appealing Julie is like Marlborough sauvignon blanc, then ebullient Julia is champagne.

Ephron's screenplay blend has similarities – both women are trying to give meaning to their life, with supportive, loving husbands (Chris Messina as Julie's, Stanley Tucci as Julia's), and cooking becomes a liberating force for them, even if their achievements are poles apart (Child's kitchen is a Smithsonian replica exhibit!).

Adams is the heart of Ephron's souffle, as we identify with Julie's struggles, not Julia's. But it is Streep who is again unforgettable playing the larger-than-life Julia (who stood 1.88m tall), a personality full of energy and almost unbridled enthusiasm, with a voice that soars and coos in its joie de vivre and buttery appreciation of – bon appetit! – food.

Streep has garnered an unbelievable 15 Oscar nominations. She should get another one for this movie – and would be a worthy winner.