June 20, 2014
Chef – The Movie
By Aisha Bhattacharya
As the name suggests, the movie is about a Chef. And it is brilliant! But, I’m not here to write about how well everyone acted or about the cinematography, which frankly I have no knowledge about. The background score peppered with Marvin Gaye was a real treat and kept us swaying in our seats for most of the movie. But, most of all, the movie was about food! Jon Favreau as the writer, director, co-producer and the protagonist of the story has done a fabulous job!
From being the Chef de cuisine at a restaurant in Los Angeles to suddenly not knowing what to do once he quits, Chef follows the journey of Carl Casper from LA to Miami and back. The road-trip from Miami to Los Angeles is by far the best part of the movie!! It makes me want to own a food-truck!!
The movie is endearing and is filled with humour that makes you guffaw in places and giggle in others. The estranged Father-Son relationship that desperately needs mending is heart-warming and done beautifully. Percy just wants to spend some quality time with his father and Chef Carl imagines that means watching movies and going to the amusement park. My favourite part is when Percy almost serves a burnt sandwich and Chef Carl chides him for it. By the end of that scene Percy calls his dad Chef. That, scene took me back to my first day in an industrial kitchen where I was yelled at for calling my Buddy Chef – Sir. It’s never Sir, always Chef!
The movie is filled with passion about food and if watching it doesn’t make you hungry – you’re clearly from another planet! Those sizzling trays of Bacon, the close-ups of succulent meat, prawns grilled to perfection and the careful breaking down of an entire pig in one scene. You can almost smell the food. The walks through farmers markets and the sheer delight, seeing food gives most people. All of it reminded me of my days as a trainee chef. We did all those things and more.
The important part – Chef is a movie I had to write about because I write about food sometimes and as a blogger, I write too many details. I’ve trained as a chef and of all the people I, should have understood how hard a chef works and how easy it is for some random person with half-baked knowledge to write him/her off. So, I would like to apologise for being over critical at times and from now on I shall try and look for the best and avoid food-bashing.
I don’t want to write about the plot and give it all away. So, please take my advice and go watch the movie! It has released today and if you don’t like it, you can put cornstarch on it at night and dip it in oil the next morning to make Hush Puppies. That probably makes no sense right now but will, if you go and watch the movie! The movie is everything you can expect and more!
If you honestly don’t enjoy the movie I will give you a tub of popcorn *FREE*
