Movie Review: Julia

There are few names more instantly recognizable to a vast group of people than the name Julia Child. Whether familiar with her writing, Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961), or her television work, The French Chef (1962-73), chances are you have some knowledge of her existence, but you may not be as aware of the intricacies of her life. The new film, simply titled Julia, from documentarians, Julie Cohen and Betsy West (whose last film was the Oscar-nominated RBG in 2018), chronicles Child’s ascendency to superstardom via a thorough and remarkably engaging piece that, although it refrains from offering up any surprising revelations on its subject, does succeed in creating an intimate portrait of this fascinating and iconic woman.

Although the details of Child’s journey to becoming the influential personality she was may not come as a surprise to most, as she is, of course, an extremely well-researched subject, the film manages to transcend simple storytelling to tell the tale of a strong, determined woman who had a profound impact on the perceptions many Americans had about food, among other things. The way in which Cohen and West weave archival footage, first-person interviews from the likes of Ina Garten and Charles Gibson (among many others), as well as personal photos and other ephemera together gives the film’s narrative a grounded and well-centered base. It is from this core that the film unfurls its empowering story of a woman finding fame in her fifties after serving in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II and subsequently meeting and marrying her loving and extremely supportive husband Paul.

Editor Carla Gutierrez does a phenomenal job of piecing all of the elements in the film together – especially the many mouth-watering sequences of food being prepared shot by cinematographer Claudia Raschke – to allow the narrative to flow as effortlessly as it does. There is an elegance to the narrative of Julia that, although not particularly groundbreaking in any way, does a superlative job of telling the story of its fascinating subject in a way that ensures her name will endure far longer than Julia herself may have ever thought it would have.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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