‘Julie & Julia’

This perfectly puffed souffle of a film, starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams as the blogger who cooks through “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and lives-loves to tell the tale, is about as tasty a delight as any major studio has served up this summer. In a world where even fast food joints are forced to display their calories, it’s great fun to be sauteed in butter and wine for a couple of hours absolutely guilt free. Streep fills out the towering, gangly cooking phenom quite remarkably; she’s larger than life and yet completely embraceable. Meanwhile, Adams is spongecake light as the aimless young Manhattanite searching for a new recipe for life in Child’s sauces. The film, and its performances, are exceedingly rich. Yum.

-- Betsy Sharkey