“Chef” is that rare movie that is overlong, bloated with too many characters, and has a meandering plot, yet still manages to evince just enough charm to win me over.
In other words, it is a movie directed by John Favreau.
Favreau, who has been directing since the late 1990s, isn’t always on his game. His lesser films take the wrong kind of chances and fail to observe the difference between form and formula. Favreau’s better efforts, which tend to be smaller projects, combine an offbeat indie sensibility with good old American earnestness. Movies like “Made” and “Elf” aren’t trying to save the world (for that, see “Iron Man”). They’re just modest little stories.
“Chef” belongs to this category. Like its main character, Chef Carl Casper (Favreau), the movie is overzealous in its ingredients and presentation. But that zeal comes from a sincere place.
Carl’s story is largely uneventful by Hollywood standards: a chef quits his kitchen in a huff and runs off to open a food truck. It is a story about passionate exploration of one’s (a)vocation and soul searching that leads to Carl being a better guy.
It’s not a boring story. But audiences will react like someone who’s been served tiny portions at a gourmet restaurant — “Is that all there is?”
The overabundance of side characters comes in the form of a cavalcade of cameos, including Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., and Dustin Hoffman. These characters at times distract from the central story, but it’s not stunt casting. Each is well suited to the role.
What works in “Chef” is, indeed, that it is earnest. The sentimentality, the themes of personal growth and appreciating relationships — Favreau seems to mean it.
The film’s messiness is likely borne of this sincerity. The pacing is near-awful, the action slow, and the character study not as studious as it aims to be.
The “food porn” aspect of “Chef” that has been much commented upon is indeed a pleasure, if you’re into that sort of thing. However the real treats come as sideline attractions — John Leguizamo’s kinetic portrayal of Carl’s sous-chef, the candy-coated cinematography that is surprisingly beautiful. Even Favreau’s own performance is as good as he’s been anywhere else.
A great critic once said that he didn’t mind stupid movies so long as they were the right kind of stupid. “Chef” is the right kind of stupid — Spielberg’s stupid, stupidly optimistic but not naive. And watchable.
“Chef” — THREE STARS
Directed by John Favreau. Rated R. Open Road Films, Aldamisa Entertainment. 114 min.
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