Carl Casper (Favreau) was once the rising hero of the modern food scene. But when a food critic reviews his current menu, which is dulled by the restaurant’s controlling owner, he takes to Twitter to vent his unhappy response.
But clearly Carl has spent too much time in the kitchen, because he is oblivious to the reach of social media; and soon, what he believes is a private message goes viral.
Having learned the hard way that Twitter is for everyone to see, the chef soon finds himself the centre of an online war and, eventually, he loses his job.
His frustrations spill over to his private life, with his son (whose custody he shares with his ex-wife) seeing little of his dad. The strain on the relationship escalates when a promised road trip is not delivered.
Unable to find work after his public meltdown, he reluctantly takes up the offer of assistance from his ex-wife, and follows her to Miami where he and their son attempt to rebuild their lives and his passion through the culinary simplicity of a food van. With the help of his old kitchen van, Carl rediscovers not only his love of food, but of those nearest and dearest to him.
This is a nice film. And if ‘nice’ is your thing, you won’t be too upset by the overly gushy and somewhat clichéd moments that see a down-on-his-luck dad rebuild his love of cooking and reconnect with his son. For me, it was a touch too sweet—and at times, it became a little cloying.
Even Robert Downey Junior and Dustin Hoffman’s cameos feel wasted.
With as many stars as there are recipes, Chef could have been something special, but in the end it felt a little over-baked (pardon the pun). It’s a heart-warming film that couldn’t decide if it was a family film or a comedy. And had it made that decision—and committed either way—it could have been great.
Directed by: John Favreau
Starring: John Favreau, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johannson, Robert Downey Jr., Dustin Hoffman
Rating: TBC
Runtime: 115min
Release Date: May 8
Reviewer rating: 2.5/5