Runtime: 1 hour, 55 minutes
Rating: R
Director: Jon Favreau
Quick Impressions:
Last week, my husband and I had planned to see the Scarlett Johansson movie Under the Skin, but we had a lot going on and never made it to the theater. We thought we’d try again this week, but the showtime was nearly impossible. And then I noticed a New York Film Critics advance screening of Jon Favreau’s new movie Chef. I’m a huge fan of these screenings, and I plan to go every time one is shown in Austin.
We still want to see Under the Skin, but I was able to console my husband with the surprising information that Scarlett Johansson is in Chef, too (not surprising in the sense that she’s reteaming with her Iron Man 2 director, surprising that she seems to be in over half the movies released so far in 2014. If she keeps it up, periodicals will soon have to hire film critics to cover her work exclusively.)
Anyway, I’ve always liked Jon Favreau in the past. Zathura used to be one of my stepson’s favorite movies. He watched it again and again when he was little and still watches it occasionally. Of course, the Iron Man movies are lots of fun, and to be honest, I even liked Cowboys and Aliens. (I kind of thought the cowboys had enough going on without the aliens, but I don’t suppose aliens land in places just to be a convenient plot device. They probably have an agenda of their own.)
Now that I’ve seen Chef and heard Favreau’s thoughtful responses to questions during the simulcast Q&A after the film, I have to say that I like Favreau even better.
Both my husband and I loved this movie, and we’re scheming to find an excuse to go again. (One reason is that the theater offered the Cubano sandwich featured in the movie as a menu special, and we didn’t realize that we should have ordered it until we saw it up on the big screen.)
We saw it in a very large auditorium that was extremely full, and at the end, the majority of the audience burst into applause. Of course, we are in Austin, one of several cities featured in the film, and Chef did have its world premiere here during SXSW this year. But I think people in other cities would like the movie just as well. It’s a very satisfying film, and I’d recommend it to anyone.
The Good:
The best part about this movie is that Jon Favreau really wanted to make it, and then he did, and he had all the creative control he wanted, and now early audiences seem to be embracing the film. That’s tremendously encouraging to any struggling artists. It’s always very gratifying when talented people tackle a passion project and make something wonderful. (On the flip side, it’s extremely annoying to creative people who can’t seem to get their ideas out there when inferior work gets overexposed and makes apparent idiots extremely rich and famous.) I am always glad to see someone already successful and famous demonstrate yet again that he is intelligent, talented, and passionate about his work.
I really enjoyed listening to Favreau in the Q&A. This kind of thing should be bundled with any screening of a movie. Instead of twenty minutes of glorified commercials before the previews start, why not have a replay of an interview with the director/cast like this?
Even when the questions were not particularly well phrased, Favreau seemed able to look beyond the wording to the intent and immediately respond with extremely cogent and sometimes profound replies.
He said several things that resonated with me. Perhaps my favorite soundbite came when he was commenting on an early scene where he, John Leguizamo, and Bobby Canavale unwrap an entire pig and begin to cut it to pieces to prepare it for roasting.
Favreau said, “A true chef will use every piece of the pig, tail to snout, and use it respectfully.” But then he added about the experience, “To me, it’s like Saw.” Peter Travers asked him if these frequent rituals chefs go through to prepare food made them feel hungry when looking at whole animals ready to be butchered. Favreau replied that one chef told him, “Sometimes when you go to the zoo, your mouth will water.”
I thought he put that so well, but now, don’t worry. This movie does show a lot of food preparation, but it’s not actually about butchering animals or life in the slaughterhouse or anything graphic and disturbing like that. I was fascinated (and relieved) to learn that the crew (and even the cast!) actually ate the food cooked in the film, food Favreau learned to cook by working closely with Korean fusion chef Roy Choi, whose success with a food truck served as a partial inspiration for Chef.
Favreau also said that the whole story of Chef is a “wonderful metaphor for the conundrum of someone in the creative field.” I agree with him there.
Every adult who has had even a brief taste of a professional life should be able to relate to this film. For me, a novelist trying very hard to publish again after a long time off the shelves, Carl Casper’s frustrations and struggles seemed so familiar. I’m not a chef, but I’ve certainly had the experience of surrendering creative control, making changes I didn’t like, and then being criticized for those changes (and ridiculed for them) by a third party. This kind of thing is so common. It happens all the time. I mean, you never have full creative control, hardly ever. Even in fields where you’re basically your own boss (like academia, with which I also have some experience), you must always show your work to someone. You’re never allowed total freedom to make entirely your own decisions. The only time that ever happens is when you’re the one with the money who calls the shots. (And if you’re the artist and you suddenly find yourself with all the money and power calling all the shots, then I’d say there’s a ninety percent chance that you’re actually high/delusional/dead.)
But surely everyone who’s ever had a boss has been frustrated by seemingly arbitrary micromanagement or unsolicited interference. The opportunity cost of financial security (aka a steady job) is usually a bit of free rein/independence (at least).
As far as I’m concerned, this movie is very of the moment because right now, so many people (in this country at least, I can’t speak for other countries) have an idea in their mind of where they ought to be or what they should have achieved which is glaringly different from their present working reality. I think most adults in the audience will totally get the frustration Carl feels initially. The truly satisfying thing about the film is that he’s able to face his frustrations and take steps to make his life the one he’d prefer to live. The ending is, maybe, a little too happy, but that seems like the recipe for a crowd pleaser to me—an initially realistic take on an average person’s frustrations that gradually becomes more and more escapist fantasy as it goes. Maybe Carl’s happy ending is not the way things usually work out for most people, but it’s the way we always hope it will work out for us when we start. (And it’s not, after all, completely out of reach.)
Chef works so well because it has a wonderful sense of realism, a kind of laid-back, hands-dirty approach. Over and over, we get scenes of hands working in the kitchen, characters preparing delicious food. Favreau learned how to prepare food as a chef was because he wanted the movie to feel authentic. He also made sure to visit each of the locations depicted in the film, to spend time there and portray the city accurately and vibrantly. In the Q&A, he said this “specificity leads counterintuitively to a universal quality,” and he’s right. The more tangible details he puts into the film, the more compelling the end result becomes to everyone.
Chef gives us a tantalizing taste of Miami, New Orleans, and Austin. The locations feel very real and rich, vibrant, partially because of all the beautifully shot close-ups of authentic local food, and partially because of the wonderful choice of music making up the soundtrack. Several times in the movie, Carl shops at farmers’ markets to select the freshest and most appealing sample of local produce, and Favreau is essentially doing the same thing with the movie. Chef takes the best and most appealing bits of several distinct places and incorporates them into a story with universal elements that anyone can enjoy.
Basically, the movie combines three thematic elements superbly. As I’ve said, it shows us the delicious reality of cooking and that cooking is an art, a metaphor for the artistic process. But Chef also comments wittily, accurately, and poignantly on our troubled relationship with social media and the importance of the relationship between a father and his son.
In a very small part (basically one scene) Amy Sedaris is incredibly hilarious and spookily spot-on as a PR person hired to help clean up Carl’s image. And young Emjay Anthony is flat out fantastic as Carl’s devoted but vulnerable ten-year-old son Percy. Anthony clearly has great gifts as an actor. He’s very natural, very funny, thoroughly convincing. Hopefully this movie will bring more plum roles his way. In the Q&A, Favreau credited his own father, a public school teacher, for modelling the idea that we should love our work. “When you see your Dad loving [his] job, it makes you expect that,” he said, an idea that definitely comes through in the film, in part because of Anthony’s remarkable performance as the son.
Actually the entire cast of Chef is great (including Jon Favreau, who seems to direct himself pretty well). I personally was delighted to see such a large part for John Leguizamo, whose work I’ve always really enjoyed. He’s such a unique person and often underrated as an actor, I think. Leguizamo has a wonderful part, and he makes the most of it. In many scenes, he’s somehow simultaneously natural, relaxed, and hilarious. He’s funny the way your dad’s funny friend is funny in real life. One thing I really appreciated about this movie is that the laughs are consistent, but the comedy comes from a very real place and isn’t ridiculously exaggerated. Bobby Cannavale also blends comedy and drama well in a much smaller part.
Scarlett Johansson basically disappears from the movie after the first half, but when she’s there, she does a great job. Probably the best thing about her performance is that it’s non-intrusive. She plays the character well. She’s definitely not phoning it in. She gives a really good performance. But she doesn’t chew scenery or try to steal any scenes. She’s just one member of a highly skilled supporting ensemble.
Dustin Hoffman has some powerful scenes early on, Robert Downey, Jr. practically steals the show, and it’s nice to see Oliver Platt, who makes the most of a small part.
The cast member I’m most impressed with (well, outside of the kid) is Sofía Vergara. As I watched, I suddenly realized that I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before in a dramatic role. Basically, I know her from the Smurf movie and Modern Family. So obviously she’s funny and gorgeous, but now that I’ve seen Chef, I know she has more to offer than an incredible body and killer comic timing. She’s really perfect as Carl’s ex-wife. I totally believed and understood her character, and clearly so did she. Vergara seemed to know exactly how to play this ex-wife, devoted to ensuring her son’s continued happiness. The whole father/son storyline was incredibly well done, anyway. I kept thinking of my husband and my stepson. The relationship was so real, and Vergara really seemed in tune with her character. I thought she was great.
Best Scene Visually:
Chef makes a deliberate attempt to appeal to the audience through the senses. Favreau wants us to find the food beautiful and compelling, desirable. We get so many fabulous shots of food preparation, and it’s all so hands on, and the food is so fresh and so real.
I admire tremendously the film’s ability to transport us to its locations by making all the scenes so incredibly vivid and sensory. I feel like I know slightly more about what it means to experience New Orleans and Miami just from watching the movie, and it also succeeds in portraying Austin in a more accurate way than many movies. Chef does a great job of capturing the energy and vibe of all these distinct and desirable places.
So I love all the shots of cooking. Honestly, I was transported by a wave of pure bliss when I watched him making the grilled cheese. (And then there’s a scene of the making of the making of the grilled cheese during the credits that is winningly hilarious.)
The movie communicates through food (which is after all, something we all have in common that brings us together). (The movie also communicates through music. It has an amazing soundtrack, unusually varied for a motion picture.)
The most effective scene visually, though, is clearly the montage of one second videos that Percy makes for his dad. This made a lot of people cry (including me).
Best Scene:
None of the scenes is bad, but the one that really sticks in my head is the part when the family goes to see Percy’s grandfather perform and afterwards sits around eating Cuban sandwiches. So many things come together in this vivid, atmospheric moment.
Funniest Scene:
This movie made me (and others) laugh out loud several times. Robert Downey Jr.’s scene is definitely the funniest. His character is for sure the most off-the-wall aspect of an otherwise pretty grounded movie. He’s pretty out there (though far from unrealistic. Surely guys like this do exist). Just the idea of him playing Carl’s ex-wife’s ex-husband is already amusing. And then the whole bit about the thing with the receptionist keeps us (and Carl) perpetually off balance. It’s pretty great stuff. (And Favreau shared afterwards that the scene was filmed last, and the actual dialogue was ad-libbed.)
Sophia Vergara has a very funny moment, too, with a possible “rat.” And watching the kid’s reaction to the corn-starch is highly amusing.
Best Action Sequence:
Carl’s meltdown in front of the food critic is pretty great. I can see why it went viral. Scarlett Johansson is also very good in this scene, trying to prevent the scene from happening.
The Negatives:
The resolution at the very end was almost too much for me. I leaned over to my husband and whispered, “This must be a remake of Ratatouille.” It really, really does remind me of the ending of Ratatouille. On the plus side, though, I loved the ending of Ratatouille. It’s pretty much the best part of the movie, so seeing a variation of it again is hardly upsetting. And to be fair, I doubt very much that the makers of this film were even thinking of Ratatouille. What happens here seems like something that probably happens all the time in real life.
The only real criticism I have of Chef is that it’s awfully long (particularly for a movie of its genre). Since the movie works (and feels refreshingly real and paced so that characters can evolve in an organic, real-world way), I don’t particularly care that it’s almost two hours long. But that is a long time for a sweet little dramedy like this. By the time they get the food truck and decide to visit all the cities, you think in panic, Wait! They’re just now going to all those cities!? How long is this movie going to last? Honestly, I think the first act could be trimmed a bit, but I also like it as it is. I’d rather watch a long movie that’s actually about something and genuinely engages with its subject than a short movie that’s just a big bunch of explosions or meaningless sex any day.
I did notice, of course, that you could take Jon Favreau, Sophia Vergara, and Scarlett Johansson and play a very quick game of “One of These Things” from Sesame Street. This is the kind of thing people always complain about, so I’m sure there will be complaints. Why would such attractive women be pining away for Jon Favreau? To me, this doesn’t seem like such a mystery at all. I actually think it’s perfectly realistic that either of these women would date/marry a guy like Favreau’s character in real life. But I do sense a sort of fantasy undercurrent streaming through this ostensibly realistic movie. I mean, for most of the movie, Carl is actively pursued by his beautiful, voluptuous, rich ex-wife who wants to give him money in order to improve his career by allowing him to start working at his dream job. And then, of course, his other quasi-love interest is a beautiful younger woman who thinks he’s the best chef she’s ever worked for and selflessly cares only about his happiness and the well-being of his child.
For sure, the ending of this movie seems to belong more to the realm of fantasy than reality. (But it’s a believable fantasy, and one that is sure to make the audience happy. The last scene, in fact, actually made me tear up–because this is a movie that makes you care about the characters. It lets you spend time with them when they’re just hanging out—like Carl and Percy—and, as a result, you soon start to care about them. By the end, you want them to be happy, realism be damned!) And I think the movie delivers what the audience wants, so the lack of complete realism is not much of a problem, in the end.
Overall:
Chef is wonderfully engaging, funny, and touching, a movie that takes its time to create something wonderful that audiences can savor. Writer/director/star Jon Favreau shows that just because he’s been helming action blockbusters, he hasn’t lost his touch for telling intimate stories about real people and places. Both my husband and I loved the movie. It has a great cast, an exceptional script, and so many mouth-watering shots of food that are somehow extremely compelling while remaining entirely wholesome.
Sometimes PG-13 films are inappropriate for kids, but though it seems odd, this R rated feature is actually something that the entire family could enjoy. The youngest children may find Chef a bit slow moving for their tastes, but it’s basically R-rated simply because the “F” word is used more than once. Favreau actually said something hilarious about this in the Q&A, joking that it’s not like children hear that word once and have no idea what it means, then hear it twice and begin repeating it endlessly.
If you’re at all interested in Cuban sandwiches, then you should definitely see this movie. And if you’re not interested, I can promise you will be after you watch Chef. This was a great movie that I genuinely enjoyed, possibly my favorite of the year to this point. I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t like it, so if you get the chance, you should probably go.