Chef

I love food. Just think about all the delicious meals you can choose between in every city. Personally i am a bit of an all eater, not afraid to eat different cultural food. One of my personal favourite meals is from Scotland called Haggis. This is sheep stomache, cooked and made in a traditional scotish way, reminds me of Köttfärslimpa, a traditional Swedish husmanskost mål, but with more flavor. Thai food, indian food, mexican food, i better stop talking about this, before someone might have an orgasm. Sometimes i watch cooking shows with my wife, like Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay, just to see different meals and what imngredients you can use. Speaking of Gordon Ramsay, he have a temper bigger than the Empire State Building, just look at his show Kitchen Nightmares. I am not a good cook in any way, but sometimes i try to make spicy food, because i love foreign food. My wife is a very good cook, maybe because she started learning cooking early from her mother helped her to develope her cooking abilities. Speaking of food, have you ever been fascinated to see what a chef can do with a plate ? I find it fascinating to see how much you can learn from a chef by the way he construct the meal on a plate. And this is where the new film Chef kicks in. A independent drama comedy about food, relationships, and life, by director Jon Favreau. Wait a minute, the director of Iron Man and Cowboy & Aliens makes a food film ? Yes indeed, not what you probably would expect, but he is also the lead actor in Chef also. As an actor i have seen Jon Favreau try many different genre films, and he was actually really good, in his feature film as a director, called Made. With a cast of Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey, Jr, Dustin Hoffman among others, is Chef a nice tasty flavored film in my taste, or is the food the only positive detail in this production ?

Carl Casper ( Jon Favreau ) is the head-chef of Gauloise in Brentwood, California. He have a lot of passion for cooking food, and hope to make famous food critic and blogger Ramsey Michel ( Oliver Platt ) pleased with his food once more. In the past Carl have been a praised Cook, and have great reviews. So he needs to make sure that he is still loved by the food critic, and prepare the meny. Gauloise owner Riva ( Dustin Hoffman ) does not want Carl to make his meny more modern, instead he should stick to the classic meny. Carl thinks this is a big mistake, considering that Ramsey is a legendary food critic, and he want to surprise him. Riva eventually makes his message clear, he is the restaurant owner, and he make the rules. Carl is furious. The same meny is served as Riva decided, but food critic Ramsey is not pleased and write a bad review, that is all over the internet, including on Twitter. Carl´s son Percy ( Emjay Anthony ) introduce Carl to Twitter, so he can start his own account. Carl is furious about the bad review, and decide to answer his tweet. But since he is no good with computers, he finds out everyone can read his answer, and the situation gets worse. Carl´s relationship with his son is not so good, and since he is always working. So he needs to find a way to get more time, even if Carl have so much work to do. Luckily, he have great support from his co worker, and friend Martin ( John Leguizamo ), and the hostess/manager of Gauloise,  Molly ( Scarlett Johansson ). Carl have been advised that maybe he should start his own food truck, so he can Cook the food that he wants people to enjoy. At first he is skeptical, but when he understand how loved food trucks are, and the fact that he have a passion for making food his own way, he takes the chance to explore this moment.

If you love food, and don´t feel like watching Hell´s Kitchen Season 256, then Chef might actually be something you will be pleased to watch. This is both a charming story and funny at times, about trying to find your own place in the world of chefs. I would say that this is the best performance i have seen Jon Favreau do for many years, and he is a great choice as the character Carl Casper. I really enjoy seeing Dustin Hoffman back on screen again, this legendary actor can take on any role and transform his character into someone interesting. I would say that Hoffman delivers the best performance in Chef, he feels so natural on screen. One of the most important messages in this motion picture, is that if you have passion for something, never let it go. I may not have a passion for cooking myself, instead i have a passion for writing movie reviews, that will continue to grow. If you think a film about cooking could be dull, don´t worry. There is a charming feeling while you sit back, seeing the chef in action. The soundtrack is chosen to fit the good looking meals, so there is a risk you might feel hungry. Another actor that fits right in the kitchen is John Leguizamo. he is one of those actors that have been a long time in the movie industry, and i always feel happy seeing him back on screen. Chef have a simple plot, but manage to put the pieces together thanks to good acting, and a good screenplay. Complicated situations, big emotions, in a kitchen you can experience many parts of life. And with the help of good ingredients, a passion for great taste, you can make people feel better. Chef is not a very original story, but it is the essence of cooking that makes this film feel warm. To see Jon Favreau direct a different film like this, proves that he want to step outside his comfort zone. This shows he have great future ahead if he continue to make interesting stories. Chef is a nice film for all ages, and looks great as the meals are being served. The story behind Carl´s personal life works well also, since he feels like an ordinary man trying to find his own way. There is no question about it, a nice piece of meat would be nice and some wine after watching Chef, anyone want to join in ? I might have some Ron De Jeremy Rum also for those who want to taste the best.

Rating: DDD