When you can leave a movie with your sense of wonder re-ignited then it has been a successful time. This movie sparks imagination and awe with the incredible special effects and far thinking that Cameron is known for. Yes it has a romance, yes it has action, yes it has a protagonist, it has characters you love and characters you hate, but what is has mostly is depth of feeling and a reason to see it more than once and a desire to own it once it is on DVD.
I spent my childhood and much of my adult life in quiet adoration for Julia Child's ability to have great fun with food...Extremely impressive how well Meryl Streep captured her. The amazing love story between Child and her husband, the irony that she was child-less and yes...the modern Julie...the incredibly painful and thankless job of dealing with the aftermath of 9/11 and her finding a way up and out of the depression it spawned. Yes she was whiney...but she also grew through the movie...very well played, I laughed, I cried - I will finally buy that dang cookbook and make a boeuf bourginion...lord that is spelled wrong...but..it looked so good!