Film Review: Jon Favreau’s Anti-Popcorn Project ‘Chef’ Still Mild

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

CHICAGO – By the time of his 2011 box office blitzkrieg otherwise known as “Cowboys & Aliens,” the product that indie director-turned-Hollywood habitue Jon Favreau had been hocking as a “popcorn salesman” had gone stale – to use a showbiz term from Nicholas Ray’s” In A Lonely Place”. Packing up his CGI tools and baring himself as vulnerable to criticism for making some bad movies, Favreau now acts, writes, and directs in a journey back to the passion of creating for others.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

With his latest film “Chef,” a very different direction from his recent action fantasies, Favreau seeks to provide the same audiences another stimulation - that of delicious food, and the rare sense of no-stakes relaxation at the multiplex. But, “Chef” does find complications as a vanity vehicle as his permeable character that doesn’t fully earn our adoration as a reinvented underdog, no matter how delicious his food looks.

Perhaps one should be lighter with the usage of the word “blitzkrieg” when talking about said unsuccessful genre Frankenstein, as its failure has created a very specific response from Favreau, re: the very existence of “Chef.” Instead of playing a director who becomes associated with formulaic crowd-pleasing films, Favreau plays a tatted-up cook that once ascended with integrity, but then lost his way in his food artistry because every night he dishes “the hits.” Though this satiates his restaurant’s manager (Dustin Hoffman in a bizarre cameo) it has effects on his self-esteem, especially when he gets a harsh (and unprofessionally personal) review from a famous food critic (played by Oliver Platt) who rejects his same old things.

Carl responds to the critic via his newly-created Twitter account, but his misunderstanding of a private message vs. a public post creates a social media spectacle, as the critic and artiste fight back and forth. When he embarrasses himself at a second attempt to prove the critic of his true cooking potential, Carl takes a trip with his son (Emjay Anthony) and separated wife (Sofia Vergara) to Florida, which begins a point of reinvention. He gets a molding down food truck, and with the help of his son and cook friend (played by John Leguizamo), they operate a running Cuban sandwich machine that drives across the country bringing Favreau’s inner “Don’t Worry Be Happy” to various locations.

Continue reading for Nick Allen’s full review of “Chef”

‘Chef’
Photo credit: Open Road Films

Continue reading for Nick Allen’s full review of “Chef”