Awash in culinary imagery, Ephron’s bifurcated dramedy is about the romance of food and the painstaking but ultimately rewarding nature of its preparation (it’s enough to make you want to run out, purchase some Le Creuset cookware, and start deboning a duck). Ephron draws obvious, but still intriguing parallels between various passions—whether they be with cooking or writing or making a name for yourself—and it gives the film a vivacious uplift. Even if the two halves of the story don’t hold equal interest (Julia is inherently a more interesting character than Julie, and Streep’s performance dominates), the film manages to hold together like any good meal, leaving you satisfied without feeling overstuffed. (Cinemark Hollywood 16, Amarillo, TX)