Meh. I expected more from this film. It was waaaay too long, and I have a well-documented hatred of long movies. I added it to my Netflix queue because I have a little crush on Aziz Ansari, but he was only in the movie for about 2 minutes. I wanted more Aziz, Aubrey Plaza, and the hilarious Jason Schwartzman, and a lot less Seth Rogen. And even less Eric Bana.
I’ll see anything with Ricky Gervais. He just might be the funniest man alive. Jennifer Garner was adorable, as usual, and I want to be Tina Fey when I grow up. It was clever and funny, but the previews made it seem like a romantic comedy… which it is. More than that, however, it’s a trenchant satire on religion. I’m betting a lot of people sitting in the theatre were like, “Whoa, I did NOT see that coming!” And then they got really uncomfortable and personally offended. If you have a sense of humor about religion and the nutty things people believe, see it. Otherwise, it will probably just upset you. Seriously.
Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Jane Lynch (Jane Lynch!) were wonderful. Streep was amazing as Julia Child, and perfectly captured her joie de vivre. Amy Adams was cute and charming, as usual. And yet I’m underwhelmed.
I can’t quite put my finger on why I didn’t love it. There wasn’t enough food, if that makes sense. It didn’t capture the sensuality of food like Chocolat, Mostly Martha, Like Water for Chocolate, or Babette’s Feast. It was hard to believe that Amy Adams eats at all, let alone enjoys it. I didn’t even feel hungry after watching it.
Here’s what Kurt had to say: “If they had just taken the Julie part out, and added more about Julia, it would have been a good movie.”
I’m inclined to agree. So there you are. One hit, two misses. Off to watch Extract.