CHEF (M)
Starring: Jon Favreau, Sofia Vegara, John Leguizamo
SLOW braised pork, pungent chilli sauce, buttery toasted sandwiches and enough plantain chips to sink a ship.
Salivating? I know I was just looking at these items and imagining their tastes and aromas wafting from Carl Casper’s (Favreau) food truck.
Chef isn’t particularly inventive in plot – found at the well-trodden intersection of a lacklustre work/life balance and loss of passion.
He’s bored at work and severely critiqued on subpar food, his love life recently disintegrated and his son Percy (Emjay Anthony) is an amiable but mostly unresponsive smartphone addict.
Casper’s haphazard use of the new-fangled Twitter sets off a cross-country journey and reconnects him with the eponymous concept of the film and most importantly – his family.
Chef tells its story without bells and whistles on the plot or cinematic side, but that fits in well with Casper’s food philosophy – laidback, inelegant but hugely enjoyable.
The cast is exceptional and just like a delicious tasting plate – none of the big names overpower each other, which is incredible as Robert Downey Jr., Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt and Scarlett Johannson can all steal a show on their own.
Equally fantastic is the movie soundtrack and it is just as recommended as the film or one of the delicious looking sandwiches that fly out of El Jeffe Cubanos.
Don’t attend on an empty stomach however – the fat Cubano sandwiches, smoked brisket and various other delicious foodstuffs will leave you starving and craving what mostly doesn’t exist in Australia, sadly.
Chef, not dissimilar to Masterchef and other celebrations of food on screen, can only improve Australian plates, waistlines and spirits as it inspires the world to celebrate its food, its family and its own passions.
– Jarrod Potter
