Chef: the movie, just a fun, delicious, film with some drive-by images from Austin. Same for LA, and I suspect, Miami.
What worked in the movie was an obvious love of food, the preparation, the ingestion, maybe the indigestion with some, but who knows?
Because I’ve been cooking so much the last year or so, I appreciate the preparation, the presentation, so much more. The artful combination of just the right elements, perhaps food items that haven’t been stuck next to each other, and the way the food is appreciated.
True love in the preparation of the film. Not quite a quirky cast, but a couple of hilarious, almost over the top cameo roles, mostly Robert Downy and Dustin Hoffman. I’m not sure either actor was acting or just being themselves. Can’t ever tell.
Which doesn’t distract from the film’s fine qualities. What is slightly strange, to me, the Austin BBQ scene, as depicted, and South Congress, at night, old haunts.
The kid playing the kid, with his little iPhone, although, the phone as never named by brand, but the ubiquity of its presence? Part of the plot. That and Twitter and its subset, Vine. No mention of the other two, or even three, now.
Little kitschy, but with the ever-popular food trucks as a backdrop, it allows for the least expensive way to start an eatery.
The food was the real star.
Seriously, I’m sure the critics will pan this film, but as a feel-good, family-friendly, rainy-day (at the Alamo Draft House) film? Great stuff. Probably deserves better than it gets.