Movie Review: Chef - 3.5/5 Stars There’s an old saying: “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he’ll open a restaurant, work his fingers to the bone and retire to a fishing village when he’s too old to enjoy it.” Moral: Stop and smell the sea bass. Jon Favreau has grown rich from directing the tech-heavy “Iron Man” movies, but his roots are in hand-crafted indies such as his breakout “Swingers.” Like the character he plays in “Chef,” Favreau has gone back to basics, with tasty results. As a foodie flick topped with family-bonding sauce, this slow-cooked concoction is equal parts sensuous and sentimental. Favreau plays Carl Casper, who is struggling to balance his chores as a divorced dad with his opportunities as one of LA’s hottest chefs. He’s got good reviews and a devoted staff (including Bobby Cannavale and Scarlett Johansson), but he’s also got a demanding owner (Dustin Hoffman) who doesn’t want Carl getting fancy-schmancy on the night when they’re expecting food blogger Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt). After Carl holds his nose and recycles an old menu that fails to impress, he and the critic engage in a flame war. Unfortunately, Carl knows less about social media than his son, Percy (Emjay Anthony), who can’t stop his dad from spamming insults that result in YouTube infamy and job loss. Carl walks away from the public beatdown with a one-way ticket to Palookaville — or rather Miami, where his rich ex-wife, Inez (Sofia Vergara), thinks he can rediscover the joy of cooking and/or parenting. Carl is able to do both when an investor (Robert Downey Jr. in a hot-dogging cameo) lends him the money for a greasy old food truck. For the cleanup and supply-stocking, Carl employs Percy, who is hungry to reconnect with his oft-absent dad. And for prepping Cuban sandwiches to attract the trendies on South Beach, he gets an unexpected assist from his friend and former staffer Martin (John Leguizamo). “Chef” lavishes attention on colorful food and its preparation, but the slicing and dicing has a beefy edge to it, which brings out the juice in the father-son road trip. Young Anthony is a fresh discovery who nicely complements the seasoned veterans in the cast. Leguizamo and Vergara are just zesty enough, the small dollop of Johannson doesn’t overwhelm the flavor, and even Platt finds the subtle essence of a potentially fatuous role. Best of all is Favreau. Instead of mass-producing another superhero epic, he has given the overfed public a dish of right-sized comfort food. Whatever he cooks up in the future, it will be hard to top “Chef.” Thanks: Joe Williams
Posted on: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 19:07:31 +0000