Chef (2014)

Chef was a movie that has sort of flown under the radar for me until its release on home media. It received very good reviews from critics and performed very well in theaters despite it not quite receiving as wide of a release as it could have. I figured it would be a good lazy-day movie to watch with some laughs and some heart. Fortunately, Chef far exceeded my expectations in terms of how emotional it would be and the amount of laughs it would inspire. In fact, Chef is one of my favorite movies of 2014 and all around an extremely positive, up-lifting movie.

The story of Chef is simple: an extremely talented chef named Carl (played by Jon Favreau, who also directed the movie) who is clearly feeling restrained in his role as head chef for a restaurant because of his boss who believes that the menu they already serve is what people want and should not be altered. Carl also is having issues with his personal life as his son is having trouble connecting with him and he associates closely with his ex-wife (who seems to still like Carl quite a bit) even though he has trouble paying them enough attention. All of these elements build up to an encounter with a popular online food critic that causes him to dramatically change how he uses his talents as a chef. I suppose its fair to say that nothing that happens in Chef is particularly surprising, but its a movie that takes familiar elements of father-son bonding, self-discovery, and the search for happiness and presents them in a very satisfying way.

Besides a wonderful performance from Jon Favreau, there are a number of stars who show up and all satisfy in their roles no matter how big or small. Some of the standouts are Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo, Dustin Hoffman, Sofia Vergara and Robert Downey Jr. Leguizamo is particularly great as one of Carl's closest friends who decides to stick with him through the tough times. Everybody is pretty much spot and their positions feel perfectly catered to them thanks to the breezy, funny script (also written by Favreau). The movie plays out in a leisurely fashion that fits the (mostly) easy-going nature of the characters. It's also worth noting that the movie uses Twitter as a pretty important plot device that is never gimmicky and feels very realistic. It was refreshing to see a film use social media in such a believable way.

Make no mistake, just because I've described Chef as a feel-good, fun movie doesn't mean it isn't dramatic. The father-son elements are particularly touching and resolve in a quietly moving scene. Carl is an easy guy to get along with as he is far from perfect but means the best as a professional chef and as a father. He's a human and well-defined character that helped me reflect on my own strengths and weaknesses as a person and made me feel positive about the future (not that I'm a negative person, but this movie really did the trick in making me feel great). Despite Chef being somewhat formulaic I found it to be a pure joy. I really didn't want it to end.

9/10

ps

Do NOT watch this movie if you're hungry.