In Review: Chef (2014)

In Review: Chef (2014)

Finally! I get to write about something worth seeing.

It's another food film (sorry!) but that seems to be the only genre that has something new coming out of the oven (I'm looking at you rom-coms!)

Plot

 

Carl (Jon Favreau) has been working at the same restaurant for years, and yes, has received some amount of success. But just like every artist, he strives to create something new. So when creative differences come between Carl and the restaurant owner, played by Dustin Hoffman, Carl is forced to start over. And by the method of I-know-a-guy-who-knows-a-guy, Carl gets a fodd truck and is finally able to be himself in his food, and find himself as a father.

The Stars

 

Jon Favreau, now known for as the driving force behind every single Iron Man movie and as Happy, the metal man's "bodyguard", looks like he should quit acting and become a real-life chef. He is confident in every movement he makes in the kitchen, and that only comes from someone who feels comfortable behind a stove. Not that his previous roles were bad, but I feel like this is the first time I get to see really see him.

John Leguizamo is on my list of favorite actors. It may partly be because he happens to be a favorite of my favorite director (Baz Luhrmann) and is in one of my all time favorite movies ("Moulin Rouge"), but there are other reasons too. He has a wide range of character. He can be pure evil ("Romeo+Juliet"). He can be the funniest guy on screen ("Ice Age"), and he can do this where he is your best friend and you couldn't be happier that he was.

P.S. an appearance by RDJ makes one of the funniest scenes in this movie!

The Message

 

Unlike the last food movie I reviewed, this film is not about the food. Don't get me wrong, I was drooling throughout the whole thing for cubanos, brisket, and beignets. But this movie wasn't about how food can change people. Mostly because our main character knows how amazing food is.

It's more so about that time-old lesson that work is not life. Taking time to stop, reflect, and connect with those people you tend to forget about on a day-to-day basis is what life is all about. This go-go-go attitude wears us and our families down. This is why family dinners every night at a dinner table are so important.

Overall

 

I really did like this movie, but it was missing something. It was missing that extra push of character growth. By the end of the film, we do see that Carl has spent a whole lot of time with his son and that he wants more of it. He realizes he has really missed out on being a dad to this adorable kid. But the problem is we experience this jump in growth. All of the sudden, Carl takes this kid food shopping with him properly, lets him cook in the kitchen, and basically help run his new business without so much as a bump in the road. It seems as if they have been doing this forever with no real separation. It would have been great to see this real distance between the two characters so it leads us to a triumphant ending. But that would mean that our hero would need to act as the bad-dad for a little while, and that can get tricky.

 

But overall, I really did like this movie, and it made me really, really want to try a cubano.

 

2.5 out of 4 Cubanos