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"Chef" The Movie

6K views 24 replies 20 participants last post by  annieskitchen 
#1 ·
I just saw the movie and was surprised I didn't find another thread already discussing it (unless I missed it in my search?)
I really enjoyed the movie and was impressed with how many real world chef problems they were able to capture. I was literally gleeful during the scene regarding the soul-crushing lava cake. Nailed it!
Any one else see it?
 
#4 ·
I enjoyed it a lot. It captures a lot of the feelings that we possess, especially those with a family. The first 95% was really really good....but it just wrapped up too neatly in a way that would never happen. If you are not in the business its prob perfect, but if you are a chef, youll roll your eyes at the ending, but still end up enjoying the movie as a whole.
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
It is still in theaters. I really liked it, and highly recommend it to foodies and non foodies alike. (Just don't go hungry LOL) I agree with Tremechef to a point, but who doesn't like a fairytale ending. It may be way off reality, but it is happy.

Jellly, I made a post about it the other week, but did not label the header appropriately
[thread="81070"]Cubans Anyone [/thread]
 
#10 ·
I saw the film. It's a light entertainment. Now, i have to confess something: if an ugly chef like him can get such gorgeous women, i will become a chef in my next reincarnation!
 
#11 ·
I saw it in the theater, also loved it. Great cast!  It's always great to see John Leguizamo; he's criminally underrated and underutilized.  Robert Downey Jr has a small but funny role and of course Sofia Vergara is very easy on the eyes. Oliver Platt always cracks me up.  The film does nail a lot of the elements of kitchen life and if the ending is a bit too pat, well, it's just a movie.  Highly recommended.
 
#13 ·
I really enjoyed it.  There were some scenes that, as a chef I could totally relate to.  I thought they did a pretty good job of keeping it true to the feel of the profession, although it does wrap up way too neatly, but this is Hollywood.  Made me want to quite my current job where I do too much adminstration and not enough cooking, to get back in the game.
 
#15 ·
I saw the movie Chef when it first came out. I've also seen it a few times while flying on Delta.  I then rented it via Amazon.com. 

The first thing I would tell anyone would be to eat before you see it.  Within a short time, your stomach will be rumbling with hunger pains if you don't.  I ate before I saw it in the theater and I still left desperate to eat something amazing.

The second thing I would say is how charming it is.  It is a little more accurate about what goes on in a kitchen than many movies, but they had to create a movie that an audience of non-foodies and people that have never worked in a high-end restaurant would watch, understand, etc.

I like the relationship between the father and son.  It had a somewhat authentic feeling to it.  In so many movies they make kids too adorable or too obnoxious.  This kid had his moments I would expect of a kid asked to do something that didn't seem like fun (e.g., cleaning out the food truck) or serving something substandard because the person wasn't paying for it.  I like the scene with the knife.  Very big deal to get your first knife.

Jon Favreau captured the character well.  Flawed and desperate.  His melt down was hysterical.  Dustin Hoffman played such an a$$ and I imagine there are many restaurant owners like that.  Scarlett Johannson and Robert Downey, Jr. had small roles . . . but, did add to the movie.  What surprised me about the character played by Sofia Vergara is how nice they made her.  So often in movies, the ex-wife is portrayed as a shrew.  It was a nice change to see how Carl and Inez related to one another.

I loved the character played by John Leguizamo.  I would love to cook, party, whatever with him.  Never a dull moment with that guy.

I wish we had seen more of the Oliver Platt character.  Yes, the movie tidied up a little too nicely in the end.  But, I thought there was some potential with the character, Ramsey Michel, and how a famous food blogger looks upon food, chefs, etc.

I'd watch it again.  It was fun . . . but, every time I see or think of the movie, I get a serious hankering for a Cuban sandwich.
 
#18 ·
I enjoyed it a lot. It captures a lot of the feelings that we possess, especially those with a family. The first 95% was really really good....but it just wrapped up too neatly in a way that would never happen. If you are not in the business its prob perfect, but if you are a chef, youll roll your eyes at the ending, but still end up enjoying the movie as a whole.
So true. The more believable ending would be no one backing his food truck (let alon the other ex?), him getting nailed with soul-crushing back child support, not being able to see the kid, her moving away out of spite, him having a drinking problem egged on my some floozy that eventually hocks his stuff for drugs, and then him having to move out of the state to get a job after the beef with the critic. His apartment was too clean and he was more likely to end up in Las Vegas broiling steaks and slinging potato and broccoli sides.
 
#20 ·
I know it's been a year since the last post.

I just got around to seeing the movie.

I concur with most everyone on their opinions of the way the director approached the film.

I looked at Dustin Hoffman's character and saw many of my boss' from the past.

Oliver Platt's character had me wanting to punch the TV set.

The Sous sleeping in his car so he wouldn't be late for work could have been me 30 years ago.

The only thing I could comment on was continuity.

The Chef's son working on the line in the food truck would not happen in the real world.

Other than that, I found the movie to be a realistic approach to a Chef's life.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and want to see it again.
 
#21 ·
The only thing I could comment on was continuity.

The Chef's son working on the line in the food truck would not happen in the real world.
This may not be able to happen today, but when I was growing up, in the 1980's I worked my parents restaurant at age 9-10. I often bussed tables, washed dishes, did some prep work (mostly cutting salad), and it was my duty, in wintertime to keep the fire going in the large wood burning fireplace we had.

Didn't do much cooking although on slow nights my dad would teach me a few things on the line.

I know of many family owned places nowadays were I see the young kids working in the dining room-not sure about the kitchen.
 
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