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Julie & Julia | 2009 | PG-13 | - 5.3.5

The story of how famed chef Julia Child (Meryl Streep) brought French cooking into American kitchens and how Julie Powell (Amy Adams) cooked her way through Julia Child's cook book and blogged about it. Also with Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Jane Lynch, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Vanessa Ferlito, Linda Emond, Helen Carey and Joan Juliet Buck. Directed by Nora Ephron. [2:03]

SEX/NUDITY 5 - A husband and a wife kiss on a sofa, they lie back, we see the husband carrying the wife (in bra and panties) to the bedroom, we hear smooching sounds and sex is implied; we see the man later lying bare-chested in bed.
 A husband wearing a robe (his bare chest is visible) sits on a bed where his wife reads a cook book, and he makes a remark about "stuffing a hen"; they kiss and lie back, turn off the lights, he climbs on top of her and it is implied that they have sex. A wife and her husband kiss, they move to the bedroom, fall back on the bed and sex is implied. A husband and his wife kiss on a sofa, they lie back kissing and the scene ends (it is implied that they have sex).
 A man and a woman flirt at a party. A husband and his wife are photographed while sitting in a bubble bath (we see their bare shoulders). Men and women dance in a few scenes.
 A woman picks up a hot noodle with her bare fingers and says, "These are as hot as a stiff cock." A woman makes a remark about a female friend "doing it in the air" with a wealthy man in his airplane. A husband says "too much food, not enough sex." A comment is made about people "breeding like rabbits." A woman talks about another woman having been a virgin when she met her husband. A woman remarks, "You can never tell about a person's sex life."

VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - A woman kicks a man in the leg, under a table, when he makes a comment about politics. A woman cries and falls on the floor when the chicken she is stuffing drops on the floor.
 We hear callers on a telephone sharing their concerns and/or complaints about loved ones who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the recipient of the calls frequently takes abuse about being a "bureaucrat" and unable to do anything. A woman talks about her husband having killed himself. A comment is made about people probably taking poison and killing themselves. A comment is made about "people dropping like flies."
 A husband and his wife argue in a few scenes and one argument becomes heated and the husband leaves and doesn't return for days.
 A man is questioned about his patriotism and whether or not he is a homosexual. Women are dismissive toward another woman about her apparent lack of success. A woman's mother is dismissive and insulting about her lack of ambition and apparent success. A woman is dismissive about another woman joining a professional cooking class and then about her teaching French cooking to Americans. A woman cries when she hears that her sister is pregnant (she apparently cannot have children). A woman is mournful when she sees an infant in a baby carriage. A man talks about how "grouchy" the French are. Three women argue about royalties.
 We see an open market and animal parts are displayed, such as pig snouts, and an animal with fur (it's not clear what it is). A woman drops three live lobsters into a pot of boiling water (she is uncomfortable about the act), one pushes the lid off the pot, and the woman screams and runs out of the kitchen (we hear screeching from the pot). A woman cuts through a live lobster's shell with a loud crunch. Badly prepared poached eggs float in water. A woman uses a very sharp knife and bones a duck (we see the first cut down the back).
 A woman cries while cutting many onions and a man cannot enter the room because of the odor. We see a comical scene from Saturday Night Live where a man pretends to be Julia Child and cuts his finger while de-boning a chicken and a lot of red liquid squirts and spurts and the man eventually collapses onto the supposedly blood-soaked chicken. A man and a woman playfully smear each other with chocolate cake.

LANGUAGE 5 - 1 F-word, a woman talks about someone "using the F-word," 4 scatological terms, 2 anatomical terms, 11 mild obscenities, name-calling (capitalist dupe, stupid, lobster killer), 5 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A man drinks a martini in a few scenes, a woman drinks a martini in a couple of scenes, a man and a woman drink wine with lunch, a husband and his wife drink cocktails in bed, three people drink wine with dinner, people drink wine with dinner in several scenes, and three women drink what could be sherry. Men and women smoke in several scenes, people smoke in a business meeting, and men are shown smoking cigars in a few scenes. A man takes Tums tablets in several scenes.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - 9/11, anti-American sentiment, love, inability to have children, tall women, careers, Joseph McCarthy, McCarthyism, bureaucracy, lying, anger, being servant less, disappointment, ambition, blogging, alcoholics anonymous, patriotism, homosexuality, short term goals, suicide, publishing industry, selfishness, deadlines, French food, American food.

MESSAGE - With butter, anything is possible. Finishing something you start can be satisfying in many ways.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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