Carl Casper (John Favreau) is an eminent chef at a posh restaurant in Los Angeles. As you’d expect of a true professional, Carl is always trying to come up with something new instead of recycling old formulae. However, Riva, the restaurant’s owner (Dustin Hoffman) is one hell of a control freak who won’t allow Carl to experiment. He’s the kind of person who would rather be safe than sorry, which drives Carl crazy.
On a given day, Marvin (Robert Downey Jr), a famed food critic, writes a very negative review about Carl’s dishes. It doesn’t take long for the chef to lose his temper but the worst part is that the heated discussion is videotaped and goes straight to the web. So Carl soon finds himself unemployed. His reputation is at stake, so he decides to go back to his roots and opens a food truck — along with his son helping him out. Soon enough, he goes on the road in search of experiences that would give him back the passion which once characterized him.
John Favreau not only stars in Chef: he also wrote and directed it. He’s dealing with very different material from that of Iron Man and Iron Man 2, for which he rightfully deserved almost unanimous recognition from both viewers and critics alike. Considering he’s a technically accomplished director with a good sense of a fluid narrative, the fact that his new film is very well designed and executed shouldn’t come as a surprise. That and the fine quality of the actors — Scarlett Johansson is another employee at the restaurant — turn Chef into an affable, friendly feature.
However, the screenplay doesn’t offer much to sink your teeth into. This story of a man finding his true colours once again — and in doing so, getting a chance to recover an emotional connection with his son — is tackled in a simplistic manner, pretty much devoid of nuances, and with a high degree of predictability. Even for a run-of-the-mill dramatic comedy, these voluntary choices don’t do justice to a moderately promising premise. And it’s not that Favreau aimed at making something different and couldn’t deliver it. On the contrary: it’s crystal-clear this formulaic film is what he wanted.
Here and there, however, there are traces of a more personal movie: a few verbal exchanges which eschew commonplace, an occasional scene that is reflective rather than one-dimensional, and a certain feeling of authenticity that makes you care for the characters. Had Chef followed these traits from beginning to end, it would have been a film with a singular viewpoint. As it is, everything is pretty much self-explanatory and somehow unnecessarily obvious in its metaphorical aspect — the chef would be an indie director whereas the restaurant owner would be the chief of a cinema studio.
Last, but by no means least: if a film is to be evaluated according to how much it meets the expectations it arises and how well it’s played out, then Chef would be successful. More precisely, it’s the type of film for movie-goers who would rather be safe than sorry.
Production notes
Chef (US, 2014). Written and directed by Jon Favreau. Stars: Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Sofía Vergara, Robert Downey Jr., Oliver Platt, Dustin Hoffman, Bobby Cannavale. Cinematography: Kramer Morgenthau. Editing: Robert Leighton. Running time: 115 minutes.
