Julie and Julia (and like 1 million calories)

Julie and Julia is a movie that would benefit from a lot less Julie and more Julia. For good measure I would probably increase the amount of Stanley Tucci's character, Paul Child. This movie is almost at war with itself, with one story heartwarming and enchanting, while the other one drags on and drags you down with it.
Let me begin with the bad, which in this case is Amy Adams. Adams plays Julie Powell, an aspiring blogger whose gimmick is that she's recreating Child's recipes in one year. Seems interesting enough and (spoiler alert) I'm glad she was able to accomplish her goal. THe problem with this plot is that it's no fun, lacks any real adversity and demands us to root for or at least feel for a crazy shrew who doesn't appear to gain any weight (this made me hate her more during the movie).
Adams can play likable and cute, it's basically her thing. When she tries her hand at a working woman she is unable to straddle the line of humanity that people struggle with, and ultimately becomes a stereotype. She devolves into a whiner at her best and a raging ingrate at her worst. Not exactly fun to watch.
What might be even worse is how much she resents her charming apartment. Honestly, it's the neatest place. It's not like they have kids. She needs to lighten up. That idea could apply to everything about her in this movie. If she had just scaled it back a few degrees I think her part would have been a nice compliment to the Meryl Streep part. Even in this imaginary version of her storyline, I think we would have been fine with a movie just about Julia Child.
Based on her performance in the movie, I can easily assert that Meryl Streep could have carried this movie by herself. She is a joy on the screen, as is Tucci as her husband. I would have loved further exploration of their marriage, which is so much fun to watch.
Maybe this story wouldn't have had a lot of conflict, but I don't care. They could have added a graphic sex scene or revealed where her show came from. That wouldn't be interesting? THat wouldn't have held our attention? This doens't need to be Julie/Julia in the vein of Frost/Nixon. It's not like the characters are involved with each other. They never even meet!
As I think about this more and more I'm struggling to understand why I ever had to hear the name Julie Powell or watch Amy Adams try to capture her likeness.
Anyway, I'm going to stop before I freak out more about something that probably couldn't matter less.