Review 321: Chef

Doesn't the title just make you hungry? Chef is a deliciously funny and heartwarming comedy and a sharp offering from writer/director/star Jon Favreau.

Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) loses his restaurant job, so he starts up a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family.

The plot is superbly crafted, yes it's a feel good comedy, by Jon Favreau crafts it with a lot of authentism, by that I mean, he creates characters you can really relate to: when you Carl in a a bad situation and and feeling frustrated you see doing something about it and making the best of the bad situation. In the scenes when he tries to rekindle with his son you see him trying to rekindle with his son. When you see Carl, his son Percy (EmJay Anthony) and their friend Martin (John Leguizamo) you see the son posting stuff on Carl's Twitter account and drawing people to the truck.

And I think a lot of that comes from Jon Favreau's effort to put these characters in a real situation that we can relate to and understand their reasons behind the ways they are feeling so we think "Oh I completely understand what these characters are going through" and it's not sentimental or forced and a lot of the time it feels really improvisational. When you see Carl come up with a new dish you see him trying to make it to perfection and you see it in his direction, the cinematography, the close ups, the overhead shots, this is a vision that really has been through. When you see Carl trying to reconnect with Percy, you see him try to reconnect with him.

When they are putting the food truck together, Carl and Percy get into an argument over a pan that was full of rotten food, Carl tells Percy to clean it out and Percy refuses and storms off in a fit of rage. Later, Carl comes up to him and tries to patch up their relationship. Those kind of scenes make the film feel relatable and realistic because Carl goes back and fourth like a normal human being, he gets mad at his son and almost immediately they apologise to each other with carl feeling that maybe he was a bit harsh on him.

Quite possibly the best thing about this comedy is it's insight into the food industry: we all love food in our different ways right? Wether it's to have a late afternoon snack or a family meal or to actually cook yourself there's just something thats very comforting about something that really makes you feel safe and away from harm and this film really taps into that. The way it shows people who know what they are doing in a kitchen. Theres something about how Jon Favreau directs this film that make you feel as though you are in the food truck Carl buys and repairs, showing you what it's like to go to different parts of America on the food truck, to experience different cultures, the music, the sights, the sounds and of course - the food.

Director Jon Favreau's direction is sharp, the soundtrack is outrageous, the locations are amazing, the scenery is gorgeous, the cinematography is brilliant (it captures the beauty of the food: the food in this movie looks amazing, the meals that are being prepared, the meals that characters are going to eat looks mouthwatering). the production design is superb (things like the restaurant Carl works at the beginning of the film and the food truck really stand out for me) and the comedy is expertly timed and well played out.

The acting is great, Jon Favreau is really good in this film, his performance was full of emotion and by that I mean he performances projects all sorts of emotions, he can be funny, he can be angry, he can be ambitious, he can be crazy and you can also take him very seriously. His characters passion for his job is well displayed here and his scenes with his son feel genuine.

This is probably the best I've seen John Leguizamo in a long time, his genuinely made me laugh and makes a lot of scenes he's in, especially the food truck scenes, heartwarming. Also his belief and support Carl's ambition is quite inspirational.

Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson and Dustin Hoffman are also in this film, they don't have much to do here but nevertheless Jon Favreau gives them the opportunity to shine.

On the subject of Sofia Vergara, her character and performance is very similar to that of Gloria in Modern Family (every time she was on screen I was thinking "Jay, Jay, Jay". I hope you got that Modern Family reference), however she manages to overcome that with her own unique brand of charm. Plus she's more restrained and isn't as crazy as Gloria.

Finally Oliver Platt is also good in this film playing a rather snobbish food critic who gets on Carl's nerves. He brilliantly captures the vanity and no it all attitude a critic of his type would have.  

Don't see this film on an empty stomach, you'll rushing to the nearest restaurant halfway through the film, 4/5.

The Anonymous Critic.