Favreau who was known as the Indie film ˜dude’ has strayed away from quirk like Very Bad Things, a black comedy far too raunchy for his audiences these days to watch, and entered into mainstream productions such as the Iron Man Trilogy, and Four Christmases. Hold Thy Judgment, his is trying to break the shackle like boundaries set by the film world and critics, which is absolutely fine, especially when the rewards are eye opening.
Carl Casper (Favreau) is introduced as an aging Chef, who thought he was living the Californian follow the yellow brick road dream. Head Chef at a well established restaurant that for the last 10 years has been riding the wave of success or what he thought was success. He has control over a menu and can be as creative or as simple as he wishes, and with a cast of friends around to work with such as John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale (Blue Jasmine, The Other Guys and Snakes on a Plane) he is in his element. Scarlett Johansson plays the wide-eyed wonder Molly amongst a cast of what could be described as undesirable males. Love you really Favreau.
There to be the hostess with the mostess, it cannot be unnoticed that a favor may have been asked from their Marvel days so she could bring the sex whilst Favreau brought the sarcasm and anger. His days are spent shopping, cooking and halfheartedly looking after his son. That is until the rug is pulled from under his feet after an embarrassing escapade with a food critic, and a heated disagreement with his boss The Chef is now left with the option to sink or swim. After wallowing in his depression for a while his ex-wife suggests a Food Truck as the best career option for him. An aging Chef trying to make waves amongst a sea of new, shiny grads is tough “ Gastronomy no more. More suited to his persona, he would finally call all of the shots, no more compromise, no more know it all boss. This opens up doors to a new life, a new way of working and new relationships.
On first appearances Chef could be described as an indie flick gone wrong. Favreau is travelling back to his roots, with a low budget, 0% special effects film that is all about the storyline and actors. I get the feeling that Favreau loves food just as much as me and thought up the concept of making a film solely based on the Food Truck craze that has seem to hit London not only California and the rest of the USA. There were cameos throughout the film, the faces of Robert Downey Jr. and Dustin Hoffman popped up to give the film a bit more credibility and simply because Favreau thought why not! The film does not have a nitty gritty storyline but is much simpler, there to interact with or drift in and out of as you wish. Despite this very negative opinion, the film makes the audience laugh. It is light and filled with cringe worthy comedy that sometimes is all it needs to be. Films do not need to always be serious or pretentious, they can be fun and easy to digest there is nothing wrong with that.
Chef will never win an Oscar; it’s too naive and Disney like to do so but it will warm the hearts and bellies of whoever watches it. I walked away smiling, not only because I got to enjoy 2 hours of solid food and dream about my own Food Truck but because the sound track made it all worthwhile. Cuban music, Jazz, Funk, Soul, Latin “ everything you want, it has it and in abundance in a New Orleans way.
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