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Meryl Streep
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There was a moment of temptation. The line for "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" dwarfed that of "Julie and Julia." The commercials for the former offered the promise of a perfectly dreadful special effects flick. A woman came by looking to exchange passes for the second movie. Since the person with whom I was going to see "Julie and Julia" failed to show up, an assuredly awful film might just be the perfect cathartic tonic.

I let temptation pass, and I'm glad I did. "Julie and Julia" is a wonderful character film. Nora Ephron has done a wonderful job of weaving the stories of these two lives together. The first is that of the cook Julia Child and the other is Julie Powell. Despite the separation of years they lead remarkably similar lives and Ephron has expertly weaved their stories together.

The times in which they lived were eeriely similar. Julia Child lives in Paris during the days of Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare. Julie lives in New York City and works in an office cubicle worthy of anything depicted in "Dilbert" in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Each of them is at a point where they are seeking meaning in their lives. For Julia, she comes to master cooking and this leads her into the writing life. For Julie, she is a writer who establishes a blog for Salon magazine and that leads her into cooking. The ups and downs of their lives make for a gentle drama.

It's a movie about cooking. It's a movie about writers. It's about two people seeking meaning in their lives and finding it. Meryl Streep offers a performance that is absolutely radiant. Amy Adams offers a strong performance as well. While the movie has a satisfactory ending, one wishes that they had met in real life, as Streep and Adams never share a scene. Both women are well matched by the actors playing their husbands, though Stanley Tucci as Paul Child, Julia's State Department husband, is a standout.

When a lead actress can bring up fond memories of a former girlfriend, then you know that the movie has heart. "Julie and Julia" has a lot of heart. And this is a movie worth paying the $9 to see in the theater. And if you're writing a book, it should be required viewing.