MovieChat Forums > Julie & Julia (2009) Discussion > Did anyone else cringe when ...

Did anyone else cringe when ...

posted 13 years ago by tovef
30 replies | jump to latest

I just watched this film again - I am a huge fan of the Julia parts.

Most of the Julie parts - well, they make me cringe. In particular, the birthday scene where she's wearing that ridiculous hat and the pop beads, looking like an absolute idiot as she bugles "bon appetit!" at her guests. She's supposed to the thirty years old, and is acting like a twelve year old with a crush on some celebrity.

Even worse is when she rips off Paul Child's toast to Julia at the end. I'm wondering if it was a little dig from the filmakers - that Julie couldn't do anything really original to save her life. She has to jump on someone else's coattails to write a blog, tries to dress up as her idol, obsesses over someone who worked very hard for her success and fame. It really gets hard to watch. If the character (or Julie Powell herself) had been a teenager, I could tolerate it but in a woman her age, along with her "meltdowns" and generally bratty behavior - it's just sheer cringe material.

I won't even get started on the husband character's disgusting eating habits.

[–] mr_binks 13 years ago

I hate hate hate the last line in the epilogue... `her book has been made into a movie`... DUH!

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bransrubar 12 years ago

And what's wrong with a 30 year old occasionally acting 12? Julie was simply having fun. And overall I felt Julie just came across as a human being with human flaws. People actually do have meltdowns when under a lot of stress combined with low self esteem. I do like the Julia parts better but the Julie parts are okay as well.

"My best friend was born in a manger!"

[–] pink_sakura_fairy 10 years ago

i agree

[–] !!!deleted!!! (25863049) 12 years ago

I honestly wonder if Amy Adams watches that part of the movie (bon appetit!) and feels like a complete fool. Yes, it's what Nora Ephron wanted her to do, but, man, it was painful.

And it's ok to act like a 12-year old now and then (though, honestly, you should probably do it with children, not your adult friends), but to appropriate so much of someone else's life into your life is just not normal, healthy or productive. It was like Julie couldn't serve one single dish without giving the entire backstory of how it fit into Julia Child's life, complete with "interesting trivia". It would be interesting the first couple times, but ad infinitum? Julie, could we PLEASE talk about something else?

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] DivineRED 12 years ago

I did wonder if Julie's friends ever got tired of the topic of Julia.

[–] xfastfurious15 12 years ago

I LOVE Julia's(Meryl Streep) parts and i kinda wish they did a seperate movie with her and stanely tucci.
But i did like Julie's part, it made it more modern and her character was in a slump and Julia Child gave her back her energy. I let her focus on something and set a goal.
So OP, you're telling me that at 30yrs old you will never have a meltdown or want to goof off with your friends??? I find that higly unlikely.

[–] whitespirit26 12 years ago

Julie talked about plenty of other things with her friends.

[–] char_hardt 11 years ago

It was a given the young Julie Powell's book and angle were used to attract that demographic audience. Yes, I know the Julie book it was based upon, and it was a clever adaptation. But Julie Powell's excursion alone wouldn't make a great movie. But Julia Child's life in France and coming home to establish the Public TV celebrity certainly is a great yarn. Julie's Powell's experiment was bland by comparison.

[–] whitespirit26 12 years ago

There were some annoying parts, but she wasn't THAT bad; she was just joking around when she dressed like Julia, and she was a very original person, with her own humor, temperaments and style.

[–] eddysl12 11 years ago

Yea, I hated the Julie parts. I could care less about this person and her blog and her quest to cook all of Julia's recipes from that book. To cook one item well takes a lot of practice, even the best chefs will cook a dish over and over until they get it perfect.

I wish the movie had focused more on Julia. Professional cooking was regarded as a man's world and so I think Julia most likely had a much rougher time at that professional cooking school than was depicted. i really would have liked to have seen an accurate depiction of that.

I suppose the scenes of Julie's husband gobbling down her creations was suppose to demonstrate how good the food tasted. Instead it served as a demonstration in bad table manners.

[–] amorehl-93-99338 8 years ago

I could care less about this person

So how much less could you care? Or perhaps you mean you could not possibly care less about Julie? Because that's what you appear to mean.

[–] TinyRacer 11 years ago

THE most annoying/cringeworthy parts, hands down, are all the scenes where Eric is eating. Could he be any more disgusting when he eats? Ugh.

[–] whitespirit26 11 years ago

Get.Over.It.

[–] TinyRacer 11 years ago

This.Isn't.A.Clever.Way.To.Make.A.Point.

[–] whitespirit26 11 years ago

That wasn't a point, and it looks a lot better when you don't use an overly long sentence ridiculously with it.

[–] ilutrov 9 years ago

The most annoying parts, were all the scenes where Meryl opened her mouth. I assume the real Julia Child had that pseudo-aristocratic accent and irritating way of speaking but everytime Meryl shrilled, I winced a little.

http://imdb.com/user/ur2019270/ratings

[–] Princess_Ashmi 11 years ago

In particular, the birthday scene where she's wearing that ridiculous hat and the pop beads, looking like an absolute idiot as she bugles "bon appetit!" at her guests

Yeah that part definitely made me cringe!

Ashmi any question