Of course, it is about food, which helps, and blogging, which probably helps more. But honestly, it's the previews of Julia Child herself (as portrayed by Meryl Streep) that my kids keep mentioning.
They especially like it when Julia gives the ol' raspberry to a sleek French cooking school instructor who tells her she has no talent.
The movie has a dual story line: one about how a middle-aged Julia Child becomes an unlikely French food expert, and another about how New Yorker Julie Powell finds purpose in life by making everything in Child's 1961 classic "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and writing about it on her blog.
From what I've seen, Streep does a magnificent job of portraying not only Child's distinctive voice and mannerisms, but also in capturing Child's enthusiasm for good food that she shared with Americans through her television shows.
I can't help but admire Child, who died in 2004 at age 91, for her willingness to throw herself into a new career at middle age, to forge ahead with what she loved when some people (like that snarky French chef) told her to forget about it.
Plus, the woman really could cook.
But for those who think that fancy French cooking isn't for them, who figure there's nothing in Child's classic cookbooks they'd want to make, I have just three words.
French onion soup.
That rich, cheese-topped favorite, on all sorts of menus, from fancy steak houses to casual family restaurants, is popular for a reason. It's absolutely delicious and -- surprisingly -- quite easy to make.
French onion soup also illustrates just how good simple ingredients can taste when given a little time and attention.
I'd never made Child's onion soup recipe until recently, and I especially liked her comments about the soup, which she did not relegate to special occasions.
Serve it after a football game, at a Sunday-night supper or as a midnight snack," Child wrote in "The French Chef Cookbook" (Ballantine Books, $14). "Its rich aroma, its wonderful flavor and savor, have made French onion soup a world favorite."
It's certainly one of mine.
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