DVD REVIEW: CHEF
Here's the first thing I can tell you about Jon Favreau's sixth directorial effort: consume it on a full stomach. Maybe let this be your family's post-Thanksgiving meal, because regardless of whether or not you dig Chef, I assure you that you will want to strap on an apron and try being Paula Deen for the next few days. Favreau had food truck owner Roy Choi (the creator of Korean BBQ, which I've tried and enjoyed!) prep him on all aspects of the movie's culinary creations, and it more than pays off. Stick around for the end of the credits and you'll see Choi school Favreau on how to make the perfect grilled cheese!
Besides leaving me physically famished, Chef also left me hungry for more. Or, perhaps, a little less. Everyone knows Favreau's got the chops to make big special effect movies: Zathura and the first couple Iron Man's. What I really dug was the meta-plot of the film. Favreau's Chef Carl Casper has been working at a high-class restaurant for a while, building up a loyal crew of culinary misfits, including John Leguizamo and Bobby Canavale, who need a buddy movie of their own. After a clash with his boss (Dustin Hoffman) over making meals he actually wants to create, he teams up with Leguizamo and his young, blase son to go into the food truck business.
As I've mentioned, the chemistry in "Chef" is the glue that holds it together. Leguizamo and Favreau have undeniable rapport along with Scarlet Johannson's Molly. I'd like to bring that up as my first point: the ridiculously good looking women that Favreau has flings with. His ex-wife is played by Sofia Vergera and his...weirdly unexplained...quasi-girlfriend...hostess employee...is Black Widow herself. If Robert Downey Jr. was the titular chef instead of his cameo in the film, I could definitely see it. But Favreau? Well it requires a little stretch of imagination.
Additionally, there are a little too many pop culture jokes in here to my liking. The neat visual effects of tweets going out into the world is cute, but will that sustain for the years to come, when Twitter will be the next MySpace? I feel like the movie is dating itself a little with the references, and they're not clever enough to justify their being there like the actor digs in Birdman. I know RDJ was probably doing him a favor to have his name on the poster, but don't waste the man's talents. Save him from being in The Judge and give him a meaty role in your movie! Their scene together is actually kind of uncomfortable, and drawn out.
These are small grievances but they add up, to where it distractingly takes away from the film experience. What keeps giving it its life is the relationship between Carl and son Percy, and as many times as you've seen it before you cheer when you see the direction its going. Though I would've loved to have seen Chef as a feast of wit for the mind and stomach, I can settle with it being a tad undercooked but still having some substance.
Besides leaving me physically famished, Chef also left me hungry for more. Or, perhaps, a little less. Everyone knows Favreau's got the chops to make big special effect movies: Zathura and the first couple Iron Man's. What I really dug was the meta-plot of the film. Favreau's Chef Carl Casper has been working at a high-class restaurant for a while, building up a loyal crew of culinary misfits, including John Leguizamo and Bobby Canavale, who need a buddy movie of their own. After a clash with his boss (Dustin Hoffman) over making meals he actually wants to create, he teams up with Leguizamo and his young, blase son to go into the food truck business.
Additionally, there are a little too many pop culture jokes in here to my liking. The neat visual effects of tweets going out into the world is cute, but will that sustain for the years to come, when Twitter will be the next MySpace? I feel like the movie is dating itself a little with the references, and they're not clever enough to justify their being there like the actor digs in Birdman. I know RDJ was probably doing him a favor to have his name on the poster, but don't waste the man's talents. Save him from being in The Judge and give him a meaty role in your movie! Their scene together is actually kind of uncomfortable, and drawn out.
These are small grievances but they add up, to where it distractingly takes away from the film experience. What keeps giving it its life is the relationship between Carl and son Percy, and as many times as you've seen it before you cheer when you see the direction its going. Though I would've loved to have seen Chef as a feast of wit for the mind and stomach, I can settle with it being a tad undercooked but still having some substance.
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