COOKERY KOOKERY; Rich recipe for laughs in parallel plot hotpot.

Byline: GRANT LAUCHLAN

JULIE & JULIA

*** 12A

PARDON my French but if you don't know your poulet saute aux herbes de Provence from your pissaladire, then you probably won't have heard of Julia Child.

She was America's answer to Delia Smith and Fanny Craddock combined, a national treasure who wrote Mastering The Art Of French Cooking.

Any chef worth their salt will tell you that it's a bible for any self-respecting gourmet wannabe. It took eight years to write and contains 524 recipes - from cooking poultry to concocting perfect sauces and even how to poach an egg.

Child passed away five years ago at 91, but is still a US cookery icon. So Stateside, this film is an easy sell.

Less so here, so it falls on the star power of Meryl Streep to cook up some box-office interest.

And there's a few other tasty treats on the menu. The delicious Amy Adams co-stars, along with a zesty Stanley Tucci.

And on writing, directing and producing service is Nora Ephron of When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless In Seattle renown.

But will it be a recipe for success or, like her last few films, another half-baked flop?

Ephron blends together the memoirs from two books for the movie - Julia Child's My Life In France and Julie Powell's Julie And Julia.

It interweaves the stories of Julia's culinary training in France of the Forties and Fifties with Julie's kitchen woes as she sweats it out over a hot stove in a tiny flat in 2002 Queens, New York.

When we first meet Julia in 1947, she is at a loose end until her doting, foreign diplomat husband Paul (Tucci) gets her to thinking about what she likes to do best - eating French food.

With dogged determination, she takes the French on at their own game, masters the art of French cooking and publishes her legendary book.

Jumping forward 50 odd years, Julie (Adams) is stuck in an unrewarding office job. Her husband Eric (Chris Messina) suggests she start writing a blog about cooking her way through Child's epic recipe book in 365 days.

The blog is a hit and from that, she writes the book which inspired the movie.

Despite being light and fluffy, Ephron packs in lots of ingredients - feminism, emancipation and even the darker side of Fifties politics.

Adams is great fun to watch but when you're in a movie with Streep, even though you don't share any screen time together, you can only expect to be upstaged.

Already, there's talk of a third Oscar. Loud and joyfully pushy, Streep nails Child's relentlessly good natured charm, high-pitched voice and physicality - she was 6ft 2in tall.

But, ultimately, the two different stories in the one movie format works only to a point. Julia's story sizzles while Julie's merely simmers.

It's still satisfying stuff, but I doubt you'll return for second helpings.

GRANT LAUCHLAN'S MOVIE REVIEWS & RATINGS

***** EXCELLENT - A MUST SEE

**** GREAT - CATCH IT IF YOU CAN

*** GOOD - YOU'LL ENJOY IT

** AVERAGE - TAKE CARE

* AVOID - LIKE THE PLAGUE

CAPTION(S):

SWEET AND SOUR: Tucci and Streep toast Julia's success as Adams struggles to emulate Child's gourmet feats KITCHEN ROLES: Meryl Streep as Julia Child and, far right, Amy Adams as Julie Powell