Chef

My wife and I saw the movie Chef a few days ago. It is a fine cinematic accomplishment by its writer/director/producer/leading actor Jon Favreau.

I wanted to take my wife on a date to the movies so I did a search on the movies shown locally. Chef was on the listing at a couple of our local cinemas. I didn't read any reviews about it beforehand. Only saw the trailer. Seeing the cast in it I decided it was worth a shot. My wife didn't have a clue, other than the title of the movie, about what we were about to watch. We were in for a amazing treat.

Chef will delight you on several counts. Visually, particularly the cooking scenes. The attention to detail in these scenes was impressive. The care with which the food was prepared was beautiful to see. There was passion in the making of an exquisite dish. You didn't have a doubt about the love put into the process of cooking. It showed. The chef wanted you to have pleasure in the act of eating his food and it transfered to the movie viewer. I wanted to be in the movie eating whatever this guy was preparing. It made me hungry! All I had to comfort myself was popcorn. Why bother...

The soundtrack is another reason Chef will delight you. Oh, the music! Latin music! R&B! Blues! But mostly mad, seriously mad, Latin beats. You will not get bored because this movie is about a chef that is serious about his delicious craft. But if you're not into food, trust me, the music will get you there! If you're not done in by the eyes, you'll be by what you'll hear. Your feet will be stumping. Your butt will be shaking to the mean beats of Latin percussion. Your fingers will snap at the soulful blues. So if you're into food and music, there you have it. Stop reading, go to fandango.com and book the showing.

Another reason you'll like Chef is because of its cast. Who's in it you ask? I'll let you know- Dustin Hoffman, Scarlet Johansson, Robert Downey, Jr., John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara and an up and coming young actor by the name of Emjay Anthony. All of them follow and complement the lead played by Jon Favreau himself. This ensemble cast does a convincing job all throughout the movie. It affords you great moments of laughter, believe it or not, via Twitter! There's some pain involved also to balance the equation. There's more than food and music to the movie.

Don't expect Oscar-worthy acting in Chef. While this is an Oscar-worthy cast, that's not needed in this movie. All the actors play their roles for the sake of an outstanding storyline and they more than fulfil the expectations. They deliver.

Chef will draw you in from the very first scene and won't let you go till the credits start rolling. If you go see it, don't go alone. Like all good eating and good music, it's to be enjoyed in good company. I'm glad I went to see it with my wife.