Being a picky eater I don’t have the love affair with food that many people enjoy, and movies about food often bore me. That was not the case with Chef, a tour-de-force from Jon Favreau, who wrote, directed and stars as a chef trying to balance work and ex-family commitments. Although the movie is ostensibly about food, and a man whose passion revolves around cooking for people, it’s more about how to survive the general trials and tribulations of life.
Carl Casper (Favreau) is in a professional rut which only deepens when his cooking is panned by a big-time food critic. He responds very badly to the criticism, resulting in the need to start his career over again. He does this by fixing up an old food truck, traveling the country selling Cuban-themed food that takes him back to his roots. And in the process he reconnects with his young son (Emjay Anthony), loses the baggage in his life and rediscovers his talent.
Lots of viewers seem to feel that the movie is really a metaphor about Favreau’s film directing career. That’s as may be, yet the film works on very fundamental levels that belie its rather specialized subject matter. If there is a professional point that Favreau is trying to make, it involves Twitter and the constant drive on social media to be sarcastic and cruel in place of constructive criticism. He proves in the film that social media can work for and against people, and that anything one does that is recorded becomes public history, often to the detriment of one’s career.
Food is important to the movie, but it doesn’t dwell on it in orgiastic terms the way some food movies do. Food is Carl Casper’s passion, but the food can also serve as a metaphor for anyone’s passion. Casper has a very strong support system in place, with friends willing to do whatever they can to help him regain his balance and get him back on track. Not everyone has these kinds of friends, even when they are as weird as his ex-wife’s ex-husband Marvin (Robert Downey, Jr.). The great supporting cast also includes John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale and Scarlett Johansson as Casper’s friends, Dustin Hoffman as his boss, Oliver Platt as the food critic and Sofia Vergara as his ex-wife. Not bad for a chef of a small but popular restaurant — and not particularly believable for what is supposed to be a regular guy.
Chef is a fun, entertaining movie. Foodies should be pleased because Favreau treats his subject with respect and love. The social media stuff, particularly on the road trip, is presented with creative flourish and panache. The ending is perfectly staged, giving credence to the notion that Carl Casper is a guy who deserves good things to happen to him for a change, and other layers of meaning are present if one feels like trying to peel them away. I recommend it. ☆ ☆ ☆. 5 July 2014.