I like Jon Favreau. I noticed him early on in his career but never really thought much about him until the ‘Iron Man‘ franchise. He directed the first two, both of them insanely profitable and hugely satisfying, and co-starred to good effect in the third. He reminds me a little of Josh Whedon, but less of a wunderkind and more like an approachable guy my age from New York. Due to my liking of Mr. Favreau, I wanted ‘Chef’ to be really good, again reminding me of Josh Whedon and his in-betweener project ‘Much Ado about Nothing.’
Short review: I left the theater happy, giving ol’ Jon more respect than I had going in, and on four fronts: acting, writing, directing, and casting (as I assume he was deeply involved).
Interminable review: Mr. Favreau has grown quite a bit since making ‘Swingers‘ both in his outlook (as reflected in the script) and skill set. This is the tale of a hard-working and conscientious chef who, like any artist, is torn between the passion of free expression and the desire to pay the rent. If you like films about food, say Stanley Tucci’s ‘Big Night‘ or the documentary ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi,‘ then the edible masterpieces in this drama should make you happy. A wide variety of meals are shown and discussed and lovingly lingered over, but it’s the Cuban cuisine of Miami that steals the stage (although New Orleans makes a good showing and places a strong second).
The movie also explores that whole predictable ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ theme, the too-busy dad, separated from his wife and not there nearly enough for his son. Usually treacly treadings like this give me the dry heaves, and it is to the writer’s credit that much of the dialogue here reflects a deeper and more thoughtful point of view. Against all odds, this film breathes life into these tired tropes. The scene where Favreau reacts to his son trying to sell a burnt sandwich stands out to me in particular. In the hands of a hundred hacks, this almost always becomes an excuse for verbose grandstanding and drama! drama! drama! Here we hear sentiment from the heart, a serious kindness that won me over in a beautifully underplayed way, and see an example of good parenting. How often does that happen?
Lest you think I view this film as a one-man effort, let me praise the casting! With only Scarlett Johansson’s role being too thin (although, as always, she is smokin’) and Robert Downey’s cameo being too short, many of the remaining cast are perfectly placed:
>Dustin Hoffman as the crusty restaurant owner is so believably curmudgeonly, so much the character you see and hear in front of you, that I’d nominate him for a supporting actor award. I’ve seen a large number of Mr. Hoffman’s films and I honestly can’t remember him better directed in a non-leading role. His performance was something of a revelation to me and I’m glad to be taking him seriously again.
>Sofia Vergara’s role is only slightly meatier than Scarlett J.’s but it has a lot of heart, all wrapped up with picture-perfect styling and a light touch of humor. And that ass! Favreau’s direction is so strong I could almost believe he and she had been a couple. The fact that she had originally married for money makes her real, the fact that she chose her next husband for his integrity makes her likable. I may have liked her a little better in ‘Machete Kills‘ with her machine gun breast cups, but that’s just me. Your mileage may vary. As a side note, I’d like to see her given a chance to flex her acting muscles a little more (I believe she’s got ’em), although, what with being the highest-paid actress in TV for doing exactly what she’s doing, it may be a while.
>John Leguizamo displays none of that annoying side he’s sometime known for (like a smoother, Latin Gilbert Gottfried) and is here paired with Favreau in a way that works well. Both have cheerful baselines and display constant enthusiasm for their work and each other. Not my first choice for the role, but a much better performance than I’d hoped for. Again, like Miss Vergara, the strength of his performance is his light touch and the director’s skill in displaying it.
>What can I say about Oliver Platt? I love the man’s acting and the fact that he is now in two of my favorite food films (‘Big Night‘ being the other) delights me. Here he is a character (spoiler alert: he’s the food critic) with some interesting and quickly sketched traits: unkempt but focused, solitary but completely at ease socially, an honest fan of the craft but a grandstanding hater online. The simple role he’s given is given a whole spectrum of shadings by his effort, much of it non-verbal. His re-appearance at the end of the film would have seemed deus ex machina in many another flick, but here it resonates with the simple reality Favreau tries to capture: real characters crossing paths in a life-like way, not forced into position by the constraints of the script. It might help that Mr. Platt’s brother Adam is a food critic for New York magazine.
>and, in what must be the best cameo since Vincent Cassel walked in and stole the show from Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen in David Cronenberg’s ‘a Dangerous Method‘, the incomparable Amy Sedaris as the frighteningly over-tanned publicist, whose advice is both perceptive and oblivious, takes a walk-on role and blows it up larger than life. She has a way of bringing out an ingrained shallowness in her characters that often makes it seem like the role was written for her. This was definitely one of those times.
Technically, the film is solid and workmanlike but nothing special. You can tell Favreau’s intention is to tell the story simply and honestly, no special effects, no fancy lighting or camerawork. And that’s a shame. The film could’ve used some jazzing up, especially as it runs a little long, clocking in at just under two hours. There was one solitary bit of beautiful camera movement towards the end of the film when the group enters a restaurant and the camera comes swooping in from behind, but my enjoyment was abruptly cut off by a bad edit and what seemed to be the tail end of the camera’s arc from the next shot. After that tiny shock, I thought how the film could’ve benefited from a more strokes of imagination. This is a criticism I had with another actor-directed film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s ‘Don Jon‘, which had a certain amount of excitement in the first half-hour with its Terry Gilliam-like flashes of fantasy. It also starred Scarlett Johannson. She was pretty smokin’ in that one, too.
Also slightly dusty and pedestrian was the whole “let’s go to this next city and try not to act like a film crew on location” strain, particularly in New Orleans, where the story flabbed out a little and got kinda vacation footage-y (the Texas scenes were firmly in-between). The personal bonding and chemistry displayed between Favreau and the kid who plays his kid (Emjay Anthony) was mostly absent from this section. The whole going to Café du Monde in search of the perfect beignets could have been magical, as befits the town and its cuisine. It should have felt more like a trip to a holy place and not a pitstop from a director trying to kick NOLA some cash.
There are two bands featured during the course of the film: Gary Clark, Jr. in Austin and a Cuban band in Miami. Both performances are, like most band inclusions in movies, shoehorned into the narrative in a somewhat forced and uncomfortable manner, although it’s only the reaction shots of the cast to the Latin band that are disposable and not the band’s actual performance. Which was smoking. Like the rest of the soundtrack. Although it’s all over the map compared to the focused Italian pop sampler that was the ‘Big Night‘ soundtrack, there is a wealth of great music here, some originals new and old (Martinis! Liquid Liquid!), as well as a hella cover of ‘Sexual Healing‘ by the Hot 8 Brass Band. The joyfulness of the music supports the simple uplift of the story to good effect and in an integral way, not just as a tacked-on vanity soundtrack.
Recommended. I’d see it again. If you go, go hungry with a friend and I guarantee you’ll have plenty to discuss while sating your heavily stoked appetite afterwards. As this is the sort of film that touches our better natures, however slightly, you might find yourself giving props to the chef and leaving a generous tip for your server.
[originally published 6-24-14]
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