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.
