CHEF  3.8***

 

 

           Jon Favreau wrote, directed, co-produced and stars in this excellent drama/comedy movie. It  costars Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Platt, EmJay Anthony, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Downey Jr. To be noted is that Favreau learned to cook for the film by training with Roy Choi; who, I’ve read, is one of most famous food truck chefs there is. The food looks so delicious (in the movie) that  I was starving by the time it was over.

 

Favreau plays Carl Casper; a successful but unhappy chef who feels like he's lost some of his creative freedom working for Riva (Hoffman), at his popular Los Angeles restaurant. When an arrogant critic (Platt) writes a horrible review of Carl's food, Carl attacks him on Twitter (thinking he's sending him a private message) and later he's caught (on video) chewing the critic out in Riva's restaurant (which goes viral). After quitting the restaurant Carl can't find work anywhere else, due to his notorious internet reputation. He then finally gives into his ex-wife's (Vergara) idea of running a food truck. This gives him the chance to spend more time with his estranged son, Percy (Anthony), as they refurbish an old filthy truck they find in Miami. They then drive the truck from Miami  back to LA and sell cubanos  (Cuban sandwiches) along the way.. Carl's old line cook, Martin (Leguizamo) joins them on the adventure.

At an early point in the movie,  Carl prepares a grilled cheese sandwich for his  son. It's a familiar recipe —bread, butter, and cheese — but the way that the camera lingers on the melting cheese, and the care taken in how the food is prepared and served, made me want to reach into the screen and take a bite. If Chef were a meal, it would be delicious comfort food, and when comfort food is done right, boy oh boy does it hit the spot. So too is this movie.

 

The pairing of sumptuous shots of food preparation with Latin beats is hard to resist , and the food shots in Chef are so luscious and evocative that you can almost smell what's cooking. The music, sensual and spicy, is perfectly matched to the food. There's a beauty and a rhythm in the food preparation scenes and the just the right amount of them are included  in the film, so as not to be over indulgent.

The audience is  drawn into the movie by it's beautiful look at cooking (and the passion that goes into it) as well as by a touching father/son story.  All of the performances are top notch and fun to watch. There is timely commentary on social media (most noticeably Twitter) and a revealing look at how a harsh critic can devastate someone's life. It's not a perfect movie  but it's close enough to make it a very enjoyable viewing experience, even a “must see:”..…. an excellent “feel good” movie.

Rated “R” for some occasional bad language that adds to the realism of the story.

 

Clark