Al's Omniflick: Chef

Friday, May 30, 2014

Chef

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Jon Favreau Starring: Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannevale, Dustin Hoffman, Scarlett Johansson, Sofia Vergara, Robert Downey Jr., Oliver Platt and Emjay Anthony

Directed and scripted by Jon Favreau, Chef is a likeable movie about a chef named Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) who loses his prestigious position in a successful L.A. restaurant after inadvertantly tweeting an angry response to a negative review, which goes viral. The fallout from the angry, crude, tweet leads to a confrontation with the restaurant owner Riva (Dustin Hoffman), who rebuffs Carl's attempt to rework the menu to show the critic Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) he is better than the staid fare that has remained virtually unchanged for years. Carl quits on the night the reviewer returns; leaving his loyal allies in the kitchen to take over. Still incensed over the critic's scathing review, Carl returns to the restaurant to confront Michel and in doing so, vents his rage in an explosive manner that also goes viral; reducing him to a hero/fool figure on the web.

If jeopardizing his reputation and career isn't enough, Carl has to deal with his diminished role as father in his son's life. His son (a charming Emjay Anthony) Percy contends with his parent's divorce as he longs to spend more time with his father, who always seems to have restaurant-related matters pending. Carl maintains a very friendly relationship with his ex-wife Inez (played by the ravishing Sofia Vergara), who is very supportive of Carl but recogizes his sometimes negligent approach to fatherhood. Though Carl and Inez are divorced, there remains a flicker of rapprochement in their relationship

Carl finds very few job offers in unemployment and his frayed relationship with his son doesn't help. Inspired by his ex-wife's repeated exhortations to buy a food truck, which she believes would help Carl establish his culinary freedom, Inez suggests he approach her ex-ex-husband Marvin (Robert Downey Jr.) in Florida for financial backing--an awkward proposition at best.

Looking to form a stronger bond with his son and secure financial backing for his new venture, Carl flies to Miami with Inez and Percy in tow. The trip is also an opportunity for Inez to return to her Cuban roots and also visit her father.

During a dinner with Inez's father over Cuban sandwiches, the idea to serve Cuban food from his truck is hatched. Following a strange meeting with Inez's other ex-husband Marvin, which stokes jealous fires in Carl, he comes away with the backing he needs and in doing so, buys a truck he and his son refurbish.

The scenes where the truck undergoes cosmetic and interior changes show the ever-emerging bond between Carl and Percy. Carl learns to be more patient with his son while also teaching him food preparation basics. Because Percy is on school-break, he is allowed to accompany his father on the return journey to L.A. in the food truck. Joining them is Martin (John Leguizamo), who served faithfully on Carl's staff in the restaurant. The three make for a fun, lively trio as they stop in various towns and cities en route to L.A. With Carl's fame/infamy in the cyberworld, and Percy's savvy social media skills, the truck and the crew attract crowds wherever they stop. Even a cop who asks them to move the truck recognizes Carl, which leads to a celebrity-like request for photos.

Of course the father/son relationship is mended and in the process, Carl is able to communicate his passion for food and how it touches people's lives after a scene where Percy carelessly burns a sandwich.

The film's direction and how we get there aren't revelations but Favreau's characters are magnetic; they make for excellent company. The story is pretty wispy; the crises seem to be milder than they appear and a happy ending is never in doubt. Still, one can never underestimate Favreau's charm. He is so likeable, it would be impossible not to sympathize with any character he plays. If Favreau played Joseph Stalin, we might reconsider the tyrant's historical reputation and think his crimes against humanity minor peccadilloes. I would have liked to have seen more of the incredible cast Favreau assembled but it's his movie though we are treated to the likes of Vergara and Leguizamo for generous chunks of screentime.

I would also have liked the film to be funnier but its laid-back approach to finding humor in situations does quite nicely too. Of course a movie that deals with food must consider anything edible as a character. Chef succeeds ably in that department. I would advise anyone to avoid eating until after a screening. I made the mistake watching the film on a full stomach and wasn't able to fully enjoy the mouth-watering food on display. Succulent meats, sandwiches dripping with melted cheeses, buttery breads, beignets from the world-famous Cafe du Monde in New Orleans and even a tantalizing grilled cheese sandwich Carl fashions for his son rouse the salivary gland.

Chef is a fun trifle; an enjoyable romp that melds two disparate genres we may not have seen onscreen before; a food film and road movie. The film is as substantial as mist but it satisifies--like something savory from a food-truck grill.

2 comments:

AvisanJuly 5, 2014 at 12:04 PM
I finally had the opportunity to see Chef a few days ago and found it enjoyable, despite lacking in substance as you said. The closest we get is a parallel between Chef Caspar and his creative frustrations with food and his relationship with Percy. Much as he early on feel stifled, he has no idea how to relate to his son. I found the dynamic between father and son to be a light but touching progression as Carl teaches Percy why food is so important to him. I liked it, and did go to the film on a empty stomach, causing me to drive home and whip up a few of my own favorite dishes in a moment of culinary creativity.
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On DVD

Fury (1936)

Director: Fritz Lang

Though we might normally think of the films M and Metropolis when director Fritz Lang becomes the topic of conversation, less known is the legendary director's work in Hollywood. Having fled the ever-growing menace of Nazi Germany for America in the early 1930s', Lang eventually found himself under contract for MGM.

Though his work in Hollywood is very uneven, one standout is Fury, from 1936. Starring Spencer Tracy and Sylvia Sydney, the film's condemnation of mob justice seems spectacularly daring now, considering lynching was still a reality in Depression-era America. We don't see one black person in the film entire but we know precisely for whom Lang film is sympathetic.

Spencer Tracy plays Joe Wilson, who is arrested in a small town while en route to meet his fiance, Katherine (Sylvia Sydney). Suspected of being part of a kidnapping of a little girl, Wilson is arrested on the flimsiest evidence. While he sits in cell; angry and indignant, Katherine is puzzled as to why her fiance hasn't arrived at their prearranged meeting place.

But Wilson's fortunes take a darker and more dangerous turn when a mob--already on edge--is roused to anger. Egging one another on, the mob moves on the jailhouse where Wilson is being held. As the angry gathering becomes a mass, drawing citizens of the town into their swelling numbers, a lynch-mob begins to form. The sheriff, determined to see due process take its course, refuses their forceful demands. Becoming angrier and angrier and bolder and bolder, the crowd storms the jail, overwhelming the sheriff and his deputies. Unable to unlock the cell doors to reach Wilson, the mob sets the jailhouse ablaze as an alternate method of lynching.

Katherine, having arrived on the scene, faints when she sees flames engulf the cell where her fiance is held.

In spite of the mob acting as a faceless entity, its principle members are brought to trial though the town and the defendants maintain a conspiracy of silence, hoping to escape convictions and censure.

A sure acquittal seems imminent until damning evidence assures their guilt. When the majority of the members receive death sentences, Wilson turns up at his brothers, having survived the fire. Knowing the public is unaware of his survival, he vows to stay in hiding to ensure the mob conspirators are executed.

The scene where Katherine, nearly insane from grief, comes face to face with Joe is a powerful moment in the film. As she slowly recovers from her state, she realizes Joe's vindictive determination to see the mob hang is in itself a great injustice.

The story climaxes during a stirring courtroom scene that brings the fascinating story to a close.

I would have never expected Hollywood to make a statement as powerful as Fury made in 1936. Given the fact that lynchings in America at the time went unpunished, the movie railed bravely, in spite of the main character being white rather than black, against what was then the status quo. The Oxbow Incident would make a similar and commensurately powerful statement seven years later.

The film's willingness to peer into the darker side of American life could be partly attributed to Lang, who co-wrote the story and who was no stranger to exploring the darker side of humanity. Having seen evil flower in his home country, it makes sense Lang would choose to tell this story.

Spencer Tracy and Sylvia Sydney give wonderful, emotionally layered performances. Katherine's near descent into madness is depicted touchingly by Sydney. To see Tracy's mild-mannered Wilson become angry and vengeful is heartbreaking.

Even watching Lang's film on a small screen does little to diminish its power. Weeks after the viewing, I still can't shake its indelible images or its angry indictment of one of America's great crimes. One couldn't devise a better title than one it was given eighty years ago. Fury indeed.