Chef (2014) Movie Review

After being booted off the franchise that made him a household name (Iron Man) in 2010 and losing the box office battle in 2011 with Cowboys & Aliens against the Smurfs, Jon Favreau returns to his signature style of small scale as he serves up Chef, which he also produces and performs within - a trifecta which doesn't always succeed. And luckily for the actor-director, it's a well-prepared three course meal with a dash of heart amongst the strong comedic flavours.

The starter gives a strong insight to the life of the ambitious cook (Carl Casper, played by Favreau) as his life goes from bad to worse. The main course is slightly stale, as it's has all the ingredients that have been seen before in various films with father-son dynamics, but still has a strong punch with the humour, particularly with the brief but hilarious inclusion of Iron Man co-star Robert Downey Jr. By the dessert, it presents all the key aspects which has supported the film through its tale, but does still add the unnecessary side course of family bonding.

The meal does push away various characters from the starter, including sous chef Tony (Bobby Cannavale), boss Riva (Dustin Hoffman) and waitress Molly (Scarlett Johansson), but by keeping to a relatively small cast - mainly son Percy (Emjay Anthony) and co-chef Martin (a surprisingly enjoyable John Leguizamo) alongside the on-off presence of ex-wife Inez (Sofia Vergara) - it doesn't feel overstuffed with various ingredients. However, it does present the idea that Favreau cast Iron Man stars Robert Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson just to bring out more appeal for the film, with the former co-cooks now going from strength to strength within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially with the two stars being prominent in the marketing of the product. A majority of characters are great to watch though, with a handful of them feeling a little pushed in delivery and brief characters leaving little lasting impact.

I'm not usually keen with films aimed primarily at comedy as they often feel like they are a late addition to the production and fail to grasp the slightest emotion outside of sheer boredom and disgust, so I'm pleasantly surprised by the dish Favreau has served up. It's slow to begin with, but as he comes to grasp the various social media platforms presented in the film - which is shown superbly through its editing and sound design but may easily date the film with future viewings - the comedy picks up too, particularly with the final two acts. Add the deliciously produced meals which would make any chef envious and some great direction to make even the highest budgeted movie makers green with jealousy (or food poisoning), it does succeed in rebooting Jon Favreau as an actor and a director.

Does the film have flaws? It is overcooked at 114 minutes, with various sequences being easy to remove from the mixture, and does feature the rather clichéd dynamic which can make any film mediocre. But outside of that, Chef is a four star establishment with a head worthy of praise. 8/10.

Chef comes out in the UK on 25th June and is currently out in America.