Review: Chef (2014)

Chef (2014)

You're so money you don't even know how money you are! (...wrong Favreau film). 2014's Chef is a very enjoyable film, and one that will most-definitely have you hungry for some tasty food (especially of the food truck variety). No, this is not necessarily a profound film or one that will have you re-evaluating your life choices and greatest mistakes, but it is a nice feel-good story and its charm will draw you in from the beginning and hold onto you like a big bear-hug through to its end.

Chef's abounding charm oozes through in every scene. This film was very clearly a passion project of Jon Favreau's who wrote, directed and starred in this film and you can see the joy he is having in making it throughout the film's entirety. It also seems that others took notice of Favreau's passion as he has a very talented cast along with him for the ride, including John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman and two friends and MCU veterans who had just finished making two Iron Man films with Favreau, Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr. The plot involves a talented chef, Chef Casper, (Favreau) who runs the kitchen of a well-established restaurant. Casper wants to go back to his roots and experiment in the kitchen, however, the restaurant owner refuses to let him. After an authoritative food reviewer bashes the restaurant and Casper personally Casper goes on a bit of a tirade, calls it quits, and then goes on a bit of a journey with his somewhat-estranged son leading to him starting a food truck. Yeah, you get the picture.

Again, the plot itself is not all that original. It is in the clear chemistry between the cast, the upbeat tone infused with humour and heart, and the numerous tantalizing shots of food and the cooking of food that makes this film a success. God, just thinking about this movie right now is making me want to head downtown and do a quick tour of Nathan Philip Square's food truck plaza... Uch, screw it, that's exactly what I'm going to do - you get the jist of this review - it's got my thumbs up.

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