What Brett Watched

Chef (2014)

Life is all about second chances, and it’s never too late to reignite our passions and assess what it is that truly makes us happy. 2014’s Chef, written, directed, and produced by Jon Favreau (Iron Man), gives us a simple and soulful main course that is as delightful as it is delicious, while also commenting on the director’s own journey.

Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) is in a creative rut at posh LA restaurant, La Gauloises, where he leads his loyal team to prepare for a visit from top food critic, Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt). Carl sees this as an opportunity to show off his creativity, something he’s been missing, but after his boss, Riva (Dustin Hoffman) douses his attempts to innovate, Casper suffers a scathing review and piles on a second helping of train-wreck with a very public meltdown. Carl’s ex-wife (Sofia Vergara) persuades him to travel to Miami with his son in tow to look at a food truck, and it’s from this career nadir that the chef hits the road to find out all over again what is most important to him in life.

In many ways, Chef, a passion project for the director, parallels Favreau’s own path in film. Like Carl Casper, Favreau is a big deal in his profession, with his previous films, Cowboys and Aliens, Iron Man and Iron Man 2 being massive big budget studio films. The auteur also juggles being a father with having a bustling career. Chef, is a return to simplicity for Favreau, akin to Swingers, which he wrote and starred in back in 1996 and helped launch him into the business. It feels like Favreau, smack dab in the middle of the massive Marvel Universe, is very content and loose making Chef, just as Casper is happiest when he’s creating divine dishes. Favreau has some playful digs at Hollywood, with Hoffman’s Riva telling Casper, “When you put that artsy shit on the menu, people don’t like it,” also saying, “now suddenly you’re gonna be an artist, well go be an artist on your own time.” Favreau does exactly that, and while Chef isn’t complex by a long shot, it makes up for any lack of real conflict with crisp direction, passion, and of course, food.

In a film with a top notch cast, food just might be the real star here. Favreau gives us mouth watering close shots of every stage of food preparation, from simply cutting vegetables to perfecting grilled cheese sandwiches; flawless carne asada to Cubano sandwiches and everything in between. The food in this film is art; it’s perfection, and the smells and tastes ooze through the screen, seducing us. The food-game works here as well as any cooking show, and elevates the film to delectable heights.

Favreau himself gives a charming performance, working seamlessly with his cast as well as his food. His Casper comes off as ultra confident with his skills as a chef, yet not so much regarding fatherhood and being a husband, and Favreau is able to negotiate these disparate worlds with subtlety and warmth. Emjay Anthony matches well with Favreau as his son Percy, who works as the youthful tech infusion to his dad’s old world outlook. Anthony does a fine job showing Percy’s desire to be close with his dad and learn from this man whom he admires, but doesn’t know as well as he’d like. Percy becomes the moral center in Chef, like a glue that binds the personal and professional elements of Carl’s life. Favreau and Anthony’s characters express a desire to learn from each other, and we get to see a vulnerable side of Casper that he may not of known existed, or at least forgot about. When Percy tries to give off a burnt sandwich just because it happened to be free, Carl fervently teaches Percy the ethics of doing right and pursuing perfection at what he loves; he’s bringing his son into his world, and the two actors portray the sentiment gracefully.

Sofia Vergara gives a restrained and sweet performance as Casper’s wife Inez, who sees that the Chef is unhappy before even Casper realizes it, and works to get her ex going again. Vergara is impressive here, and stands out amongst her other works as presenting a more refined and indistinct character whose love for Carl and Percy is apparent. John Leguizamo deserves much credit as well as Martin, Casper’s right hand man. Leguizamo brings a lot of warmth and humor to this faithful line cook turned sous chef, and gives us a memorable showing. Oliver Platt shines as food critic Michel, and Amy Sedaris has a hilarious cameo as Jen the publicist, and another cameo worth mentioning is Tony Stark himself, Robert Downey Jr., who manages solid laughs in his strange role.

The music sets the tempo immediately and pairs with the film like a good pinot. With a combination of Latin Jazz, New Orleans Jazz, and Blues, the music serves as a background to the films locations, Miami, New Orleans, and Austin; the music being chosen by Music Supervisor Mathieu Schreyer and scored by Lyle Workman. The filming locations themselves, are represented beautifully and soulfully, as Miami, New Orleans and Austin, respectively, each possessing their own unique feel in the film, and bringing vibrancy and culture to go along with regional food favorites.

Chef is an endearing film about passion, second chances, and of course, food. It’s not worth digging too deep, and should be taken for what it is. With enjoyable acting, tasty cuisine, and bright direction, Chef is a film we can sink our teeth into and not worry too much about empty calories, just enjoy the ride. 8.5/10