I haven't seen many movies recently but I saw a movie today that I just love. There is nothing better than a great story about real people. The new movie Chef is that kind of movie. [OK, so the characters are fictional, yes, but they seem real.]
Nothing blows up. Nobody gets shot. There are no sex scenes. [There is a bit of cussing but nothing I would call extreme...]
Here's the plot: A chef who loses his restaurant job starts up a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family.
Jon Favreau [who wrote and directedf] plays the title character. He is amazing. I found an interview he did where he said he went to school to be a chef, so that everything he did in the movie would be authentic. He sent his co-star John Leguizamo to cooking school too - John Leguizamo said all he did was scut work and he tried not to hurt anyone... [which I don't believe]
The movie is ostensibly about a chef with personal problems but it's more. The chef's relationship with his son is the key one in the movie. The actor who plays his ten year old son is AMAZING. He doesn't seem to be acting at all. Very natural.
The supporting cast is jaw dropping. Scarlet Johansen, Sofia Vergara, Robert Downey Jr., Dustin Hoffman...
One aspect of the film was really amusing and touching, and it's the role of Twitter in the movie. The chef, Carl, gets into a tweeting war with a food critic and loses his job, and that sets up the premise of him then owning a food truck. The son tweets about the food truck and helps publicize the business.
After seeing this movie I desperately wanted to go eat Cuban food, and I don't particularly like it. However, I did come home and put a pork roast in the oven...
This is a sweet, funny, engaging little movie that deserves a wide audience. I want to see more movies like this. GO SEE IT!
