BOTTOM LINE: A charming film about the true story of how one woman finds inspiration and success from the life-story of celebrity chef Julia Child, although it is let down by the fact that it is too long and nothing much happens dramatically.

THE GOOD: Julie Powell (Amy Adams) is having a crisis of sorts in that she cannot seem to get her life on track. She is working at a depressing job, frustrated with her abode above a pizzeria and unable to complete anything she starts, but does have a wonderful husband in Eric (Chris Messina) who encourages her to start a blog on cooking, a past time she loves. Julie vows to complete this blog by tackling all the recipes of Julia Child’s (Meryl Streep) first cook book over the course of a year. Before long, she develops a popular following which leads her to a successful writing career. “Julie & Julia” is a positive, warm film which cleverly parallels the lives of Julie Powell and Julia Child simultaneously as they both struggle to find success in getting published. The film never gets lost as it shifts between the two time periods (Julia is in 50s and 60s, Julie is post-2000) and uses some interesting visual transitions to move between the two which are never arbitrary or confusing. The most fascinating aspect to the film is how big a part technology has played in getting people noticed. Julia Child struggled for years and years before she finally got her first cook book taken seriously and published. Julie Powell signed up to a blog on the internet and achieved cult status within a few months, without spending a cent and without a publisher’s approval. Meryl Streep is brilliant yet again as the eccentric Julia Child; all of her character’s mannerisms could have been played over the top and silly but Streep somehow miraculously makes her very likeable and watchable. Amy Adams also does a great job as the emotionally vulnerable but determined Julie Powell, riddled with doubt and determination. Overall, “Julie & Julia” emanates a nice and warm feeling, making for some light and entertaining viewing.

THE BAD: The film is unfortunately way too long and will have you shifting in your sent, particularly in the last twenty minutes when it has clearly overstayed its welcome. Clocking in at just over two hours, the film could have been around 100 minutes and still gotten the job done, particularly as there are no real moments of heavy drama or conflict. Another issue relates to the one literal crossover between the lives of Julie and Julia. Julie receives a call one night from a reporter who tracked down Julia Child. It turns out the 90-year old Julia did not like Julie’s blog at all, calling it a complete trivialisation of her cook book and work. While this happened in real life and the filmmakers cannot really be faulted for including it, this revelation makes Child’s character not sympathetic and from that point, it is hard to be in to her story, particularly as so much work had been put in to the narrative up until that point to make both Julie and Julia sympathetic characters.