Chef Review
Charming and fun.
I saw this a few days ago. I am a John Favreau fan and enjoy his work. When he gets a sci fi movie gig I have hope for that franchise (unlike films that fall into the Bay hole or the Abrams triangle) and am of course a huge Swingers fan. He is a talented director and writer and I will give anything he does my best consideration.
So Chef. A very fun movie, greatly enhanced by both John Favreau and the rest of the cast. It reeks of vanity project but it is a good reek. John is too talented to do a vanity project badly, and honestly he is one of the few directors who in my opinion rate a one. He also has a prediction to cast all his hottest friends giving viewers such as myself (solo loser in the back of the theater eating popcorn, Whoppers, and a huge slice of loneliness pie) some nice eye candy.
All that being said it’s not amazing. The story is kind of lightweight and once the main plot element is established – a guy loses his job and starts a food truck – the movie tends to meander about for another hour. In spite of a ton of opportunities for conflict – the ex wife, the kid, his ex wife’s insane first husband, the former sous chef who more or less stole his job, the struggles someone starting a small business always faces (believe me I know), the a-hole former boss – nothing pops up. Everyone gets along great. About halfway through the film the truck is selling food in South Beach in Miami and a cop comes up asking for a permit. In a film with more oomph this would have been the perfect point for John’s character to get into trouble with the local law, maybe get into it with the cop and spend a night in jail, or have his business raked over the coals by the local city business officials but no, he whips out his permit and is told just to move down a few blocks. The cop even poses for a bunch of photos.
Like I said I did enjoy it but by the end of the movie I couldn’t help but feel this film was searching for a point. It sort of hit on the modern power of social media, how to screw your life up with Twitter, the need for creative people to do what they love, dealing with a super (super, super, super) hot ex wife, the struggles of a young kid dealing with parents splitting up, adults are technological idiots while kids are super smart, a romance, and friendship and loyalty without actually digging into any of them. It left me aching for something to sink my teeth into.
It also seems clear that John got a bunch of his Hollywood friends to come in and shoot a few scenes only to disappear into the ether. He got the great Robert Downey Jr. to do a crazy millionaire character (it looks like Robert had fun with this) nor it did escape my attention that he cast Scarlett Johansson for a quick love scene (being a Hollywood director must be awesome), only to have both characters fall off the map like a girl after a first date with me.
The story is of Chef Carl “el Jefe” Casper (John Favreau-Swingers, Iron Man, Cowboys and Aliens). He works at a very posh restaurant in LA owned by an unimaginative jerk (Dustin Hoffman-the Graduate, Ishtar, Meet the Fockers) and works with a hot hostess Molly (Scarlett Johansson-We Bought a Zoo, Match Point, Avengers) and his friends Tony (Bobby Cannavale-Parker, the Bone Collector, Blue Jasmine) and Martin (John Leguizamo-Ride Along, One for the Money, the Counselor. By the way, in spite of his filmography I actually like this guy a lot. Someone give him a leading role. He deserves it). He is due to be reviewed by one of the biggest food critics in LA Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt-Love and Other Drugs, Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return, 2012) and has planned a new exotic menu but Riva convinces him to do the same old stuff he’s been doing for years. Ramsey is bored stupid and pans him in the review (being bored by the same old crap you are supposed to review. I wonder what that is like?)
Carl freaks out and calls Ramsey out on Twitter without really knowing how Twitter works. His post goes viral and eventually he invites the critic out for a special menu but before he can prepare it the owner fires him for not doing the regular menu, giving the position to Tony. Ramsey shows up and figures he is being screwed with when he is fed the exact same meal. There is a great scene where Carl shows up and bitches Ramsey out. Naturally that video goes viral as well.
Meanwhile Carl goes off and deals with his amazingly hot ex wife Inez (Sophia Vergara-Modern Family, New Years Eve, the Three Stooges. P.S. Sophia I love you) and kid Percy (Emjay Anthony-It’s Complicated, Grey’s Anatomy, The Mentalist). She is some kind of celebrity but encourages him to start his own food truck with the help of her other ex husband Marvin, an eccentric millionaire. She gets him to fly back to Miami where they all go out for Cuban sandwiches and he decides that this is exactly what will sell in LA. He calls on Marvin (Robert Downey Jr.-Tropic Thunder, the Avengers, Iron Man) who sets him up with a really crappy truck.
He and Percy clean up the truck. Martin flies out and joins him. They get the truck set up in record time including a kick ass paint job and decided to bump around the country. Inez doesn’t seem to have any kind of trouble with Percy riding around in a seatbelt-less taco wagon (taco night image comes from the cheap t shirt category). At that point the story is pretty much done except for the last hour of the movie. They go from town to town like the Scooby Doo gang sampling local fare and incorporating it into their menu. There is some good bonding for Percy and Carl. Eventually they get back to LA for a very happy ending.
The stars:
Great, rich characters. Even the minor supporting characters had some good backstory. This is exactly the sort of thing a film needs to get the audience to give a damn about what is going on. One star. A bonus star for Robert Downey Jr. and his scene. Really good. One star. Acting was all around good. John can act and since he is pulling on some of the hottest talent in Hollywood it’s no surprise. One star. There was some really funny and well written dialog, especially when Carl was freaking out. One star. Sophia Vergara is eye-bleedingly gorgeous and having Scarlett Johansson show up is never a bad thing. One star. Every aspect of the production including camera work and soundtrack was designed to make the viewing experience more fun. One star. Unlike most kids in dramas this kid did not annoy the crap out of me. He was pretty cool and likable. One star. In general a good viewing experience. Two stars. Total: nine stars.
The black holes:
For all the good story at the end of the film you ask yourself what was the point really? I’m not saying John wasn’t trying to make a point; only that he never picked one and focused on it. One black hole. There was a decided lack of drama, and many, many opportunities to inject some that were passed up. Drama is characters we care about overcoming adversity and there was next to zero adversity in this film. One black hole. Rated R for language is the biggest waste of time possible. If you are going to do rated R anyway can you at least throw us a nude scene? I’m not asking for Sophia or Scarlett (although in truth that would be very nice) but if you are going to shoot in Miami how about some hot girls in really skimpy bikinis? One black hole (I know I’m a pig but I’ve de-evolved past the point where I need to deny or justify my nature. I’m a straight male and like looking at hot skimpily clad women. Any straight man who denies this is either telling you what you want to hear or lying to himself on a very deep level. Any feminists out there feel free to slap me across the face should we ever meet). Total: three black holes.
So a grand total of six stars. If you are looking for lighthearted and lightweight fare this is exactly the meal for you. Also if you like watching food being prepared by expert chefs this one will rock your world. On the one hand the visuals in this film do not require a big screen so you can comfortably wait for NetFlix. On the other hand I like to see decent independent films do well so try to see it in a theater. Date movie? Hell yeah. Most women are turned on by men who can cook (or so I hear) and the romance in this film is sweet (if low impact). Also John Favreau is not exactly super hot (sorry John. I still love your work) or in particularly good shape as most women judge these things so you will look great in comparison. If the hot women of this film are willing to hook up with him there is no reason your date shouldn’t want to hook up with you. Bathroom break? Pretty much anywhere in the second half of the movie. Once the truck is built and ready that pretty much signifies the end of any scene of import arriving.
Thanks for reading. I’m going to see the the Fault in Our Stars tonight so check out my review tomorrow and see if I’ve managed to grow ovaries in the next 24 hours. Talk about a chick flick (I’m sure it’s great but still). Follow me on Twitter @Nerdkungfu and feel free to post comments on this page here. If you have off topic question or suggestions they can be emailed to [email protected]. Thanks and talk to you soon.
the Infamous Dave Inman
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