SIDEWALKS’ Lisa gives her take on Jon Favreau and his all star cast in “Chef.”
“CHEF”
Open Road Films
RUNNING TIME: 115 min
CAST: Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt, Emjay Anthony, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey, Jr.
DIRECTOR: Jon Favreau
WRITER: Jon Favreau
PRODUCERS: Jon Favreau, Sergei Bespalov
Studio Synopsis:
When Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner (Dustin Hoffman), he is left to figure out what’s next. Finding himself in Miami, he teams up with his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara), his friend (John Leguizamo) and his son to launch a food truck. Taking to the road, Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen — and zest for life and love.
Lisa’s Take:
“Chef” is an indie movie with major movie stars. Jon Favreau (“Swingers,” “Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2”), not only plays the lead as Chef Carl Casper, but he wrote and directed it as well. Favreau must have called in a few favors, because Scarlett Johansen, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Downey Jr., appear in roles almost anyone could play – the waitress/love interest, the stodgy restaurant boss, and the ex-husband. Downey Jr. is unforgettable as a slightly psychotic ex husband who just wants to do Chef Carl a favor, going on random tangents that had laughing me out loud.
Food is the center of this film and surrounding it are the relationships of those who lovingly create it. Part food-porn and part father/son road trip, we take a journey with Carl as he tries to rediscover who he is as a chef, a husband, and a dad. There is a lot of really natural banter in this film between Carl and his son (played by Emjay Anthony) and his fellow chefs, John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale, including one memorable scene where the boys discover the relief cornstarch provides on hot sweaty days.
Favreau apparently did several months of training with Roy Choi, the chef who made food trucks famous in LA, and he sports some major fake tattoos, including “El Jefe” inscribed letter by letter across each finger. The audience was intensely capti-vated while Casper plated steaming cuts of meat or lovingly grilled a cheese sandwich for his son. Throughout the movie, my companion and I were drooling, and I was mentally mapping the nearest Cuban restaurant.
Carl starts to accept his role as a mentor and father while they are on the road hit-ting America’s food capitals in a food truck. He teaches his son that cooking is his pride and joy. “This is what makes me really happy, and this is how I touch people’s lives,” he says. He tells his son that if he takes it seriously, he could become a great chef, too. Those moments are really touching, and heartbreaking, when after work-ing together delivering Cubano sandwiches to the masses in Austin, New Orleans and Miami, he awkwardly pushes his 10-year old son away once again.
The movie has a happy ending, though I won’t reveal it here, and Sofia Vergara turns in a sweet and refreshing performance as the supportive ex-wife.
One thing that is prominent in this movie is Twitter. It gets a bit overwhelming at times. I suspected that Twitter must have paid generously for product placement, but it turns out that Favreau is just a big fan of social media.
If you love food, food culture, cooking, or just plain eating – you will love this movie. I would watch it again just for the food.