Julie & Julia (PG-13, 2009)

Adams' Julie is delightful ... but not delightful enough to warrant quite so much screen time (what's with the distractingly bad haircut and the constant bellyaching?). Her arc moves the film forward, but it’s Julia Child who intrigues, so much so that it can be a killjoy to switch back to Julie in 2002. Although her Julia borders on caricature, Streep is still phenomenal, making it clear that the woman who wrote the cookbook that changed the way people cook was much more captivating and much less solipsistic than the real-life blogger who found fame through her.

Director Nora Ephron also unfortunately gives Paris a bit of the cold shoulder -- we get glimpses, but not enough to sate our hunger for the city that made Child swoon. And speaking of hunger: What happened to showing off all those tasty dishes Child was whipping up? Though the boeuf bourguignon and sole meuniere make the mouth water, and a perfectly iced chocolate cake tempts, there really isn’t enough food showcased for a film about a world-famous chef. Brief glimpses of meringue and close-ups of a trussed duck don’t feed a food-movie lover’s soul.