Columbia Pictures Julie & Julia (Blu-ray)Julie & Julia is a filmthat should be relished with gusto--accompanied by the freshest and best ingredients, pounds of butter, and bottles of the very best wine. It lovingly celebrates the life of one of American food's most influential and beloved figureheads: Julia Child--played here with zest, humor, and a sweet, subtle respect by Meryl Streep, whose performance is spectacular.Julie & Julia is based on the book by Julie Powell, a frustrated New York bureaucrat who wants to be a writer. "But you're not a writer until someone publishes you," she moans. So she gives herself a challenge: to cook her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year, and to blog about it. As Powell (played with chirpy determination by Amy Adams), begins to find her groove as a cook, and her voice as a writer, the project takes on a life of its own--andin the end it does provide the struggling young woman with her life's purpose, to her very pleasantsurprise. But mostly, Julie & Julia is a valentine to Child, to Child's amazing love affair with her dashing husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci, as divine as any soufflé in the film), and to her outlook onembracing life, and ordering seconds. Streep throws herself into the Child role with real affectionfor her character, and while certain of Child's idiosyncrasies--including her warbly voice and unflappable haphazardness in the kitchen--are retained, it's Child's character and vision which form Streep's portrayal, and which make the film so involving and rewarding.