Julie & Julia
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: August 7, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New YorkerDavid Denby
One of the gentlest, most charming American movies of the past decade. Its subject is less food as something to cook than food as the binding and unifying element of dinner parties, friendship, and marriage. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Even if you don't give a shiitake mushroom about food, there's much to savor in this lively comedy with dramatic aftertastes. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It hooks you up, happily, to your inner top chef. Read full review
80
SlateDana Stevens
Julie & Julia makes deboning a duck a feminist act and cooking a great meal a creative triumph. The stakes may not be as high as the kill-or-be-killed suspense of a summer action movie, but the sauces are way tastier. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A consummate entertainment that echoes the rhythms and attitudes of classic Hollywood, it's a satisfying throwback to those old-fashioned movie fantasies where impossible dreams do come true. And, in this case, it really happened. Twice. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Julie & Julia proceeds with such ease and charm that its audacity -- is easy to miss. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Streep isn't playing Julia Child here, but something both more elusive and more truthful -- she's playing our IDEA of Julia Child. Read full review
80
EmpireStaff (Not credited)
Deliciously funny and warming fare, for which the amazing Meryl deserves her ridiculously overdue third Oscar. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
Streep is astonishing, conveying Child's gusto, her quavering voice, even her height. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate Taylor
The film is at its best in scenes set in Europe in the 1950s – the protracted genesis of "Mastering the Art" provides the drama here. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
One can’t help but wonder if Ephron would’ve been better off focusing exclusively on Child: She’s simply more interesting screen company. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
This is blissful moviemaking. Much of the pleasure we have in watching it comes from seeing Tucci and, obviously, Streep connect. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
In Julie and Julia, Ephron, like her heroines, has finally found what suits her: a surprising comic and romantic realism. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Meryl Streep -- at her brilliant, beguiling best -- is the spice that does the trick for the yummy Julie & Julia. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Spiced with plenty of humor and affection. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Few movies are as delightful as Julie & Julia. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
There's very little doubt in my mind that somewhere, culinary legend Julia Child is fuming about being consigned to a double bio-pic with a whiny, self-centered cooking blogger. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
The result is a movie that, in its best moments, is delightful. It does lose a significant amount of steam halfway through -- likely due in part to its two hours of running time. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
As enjoyable as this foodie movie is, you wish it would take a deeper, more nuanced measure of the women who, in two different eras, star in the movie's kitchens. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Julie & Julia is full of holes, but you don't even care when Streep is onscreen. Read full review
70
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Streep is the most important ingredient in this recipe. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
There are many things wrong with Julie and Julia but, if you're looking to get hitched, you won't find a better booster. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Julie & Julia is not lacking in entertainment value, especially with the Streep performance. But if the men had been portrayed as more high-spirited, it might have taken on intriguing dimensions. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
You know the feeling you get when you make a meal of two mildly savory appetizers that don't quite go together, and you leave you wishing you'd eaten one hefty entrée? That's Julie & Julia. Half an hour later, I wanted to watch another movie. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The movie could have used a few more scenes focusing on Child at work in the kitchen -- a few more scenes with Child doing anything, really. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The marriage of these two tales, however, should have ended in divorce court. Read full review
60
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A movie that soars whenever Child is on the screen and sags when Powell shows up. Read full review
50
VarietyJustin Chang
This middling melange of Child biopic and contempo dramedy feels overstuffed and predigested as it depicts two ladies who found fame and fulfillment in their respective eras by cooking and writing about it. Read full review
50
Village VoiceRobert Wilonsky
It was the best of movies. It was the worst of movies. Which is to say: There's half of a great movie in Julie & Julia. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Two movies in one. That’s one more movie than it needs to be. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Strangely, though, there isn't enough for one movie, and the first clue to why lurks in the title's ampersand, a sort of linguistic duct tape holding together two stories that never really function as one. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
A romantic comedy, too, but this time the romance is between two women, and one of them, truth be told, is a dud. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
One keeps waiting for the title characters' lives to intersect, but when they finally do--with a reporter asking Powell to comment on Child's disparaging remarks about her--Ephron scurries away from the moment and its implications. Read full review
50
Film ThreatMatthew Sorrento
Beyond "Streep camp," Julie and Juila falls into the drone of current historical movies, namely, the time-travel period treatment. Read full review
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