I just got home from seeing JULIE AND JULIA. What a wonderful film. If TERMINATOR SALVATION was a primer on how _not_ to write a movie, this film is an example of how to write a good movie. It didn’t hurt that the cast is terrific. Amy Adams and Meryl Streep are fantastic. Both are equally charming in vastly different ways. Chris Messina playing Julie’s husband was good, but he is completely buried by Stanley Tucci turning in another terrific performance as Julia Child’s husband, Paul. Why was this movie so great? Structure, structure, structure. Yes, the dialogue is witty while never losing sight of honest human emotions, but it was the structure that made this a little gem. Both Julie and Julia are women with similar problems. They don’t know what to do with themselves. They embark on journeys of self-discovery and find not only personal satisfaction but monetary rewards and recognition as well. Nora Ephron never loses sight of how a love of food and cooking leads ultimately to writing for both women. And how that act of creation becomes inseparable from the creative act of cooking. Another kudo -- Ephron knows exactly when to close the story. Ephron finds ways to draw parallels between events in Julie’s life and Julia’s life, but they are never forced and they are never too much on the nose. She hints and suggests and the viewer takes it the rest of the way. A word of advice. Don’t go to this movie hungry. Watching the savory recipes float past would drive you wild if you hadn’t eaten. I have Julia Child’s cookbook in paperback with onion skin thin pages and print the size of ant tracks. I now have a burning desire to own the book in hardcover. I know there are many recipes I will never attempt, but some I have made frequently. Her coq au vin is sublime.