“Chef” was written and directed by Jon Favreau. The cast included Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, Sofia Vergara, Oliver Platt, Amy Sedaris, Russell Peters and Robert Downey Jr.
“Chef” is the story of a chef whose culinary artistry and creativity was constrained by the demands of a restaurant he doesn’t own. He quits, goes back to his roots and starts a food truck business.
I watched this movie twice – first, during the return flight from Wyoming and second, last weekend. Both times, I found the movie highly enjoyable.
The father/son relationship was well-developed. At the start, it showed how father and son were spending time doing things. Eventually, they were spending time relating to each other. It highlighted the difference between doing things versus sharing experiences.
His initial attempts at Twitter were hilarious because it’s true. If you’re not used to social media, then you have no concept of how social social media can be.
It also showed solid friendship between Carl and Martin (played by John Leguizamo) who dropped everything to join him in his food truck endeavor. There were no unnecessary dramas. People were helping and supporting each other, a welcome respite from most movies nowadays.
It also presented the reality that any artistic endeavor (cooking, painting, photography, etc.) is subject to market influences. Most creative people grapple with balancing their creativity with profitability.
After a slew of CGI-laden movies with heart-thumping action scenes, “Chef” was a nice and relaxed break that tugs your heart strings without going overboard and triggers some serious hunger pangs. There is much food porn in this movie.
When they started on their road trip from Miami to Los Angeles, their stop at New Orleans to get Cafe du Monde’s beignets got me craving for those goodies. I’ve been to New Orleans twice, but would go back a third time just for beignets. Just look at those. Delicious!
They put travel and food together to come up with magic.
Feel-good and heart-warming? Definitely. Oh, and if you ever feel lost in your life, you can always start anew by being true to your roots.
At the end of the movie, I was looking up Cubanos near us. I’ve never tried it, and “Chef” presented it so beautifully that now I want a taste of it.
I added yet another category in this blog: Movie Finds. There are many great movies out there that deal with food. It wouldn’t hurt to share my movie finds here, right?
Disclaimer: The images in this post are from the “Chef” website.