Film Review: CHEF

The chef and his boy take to the road, tweeting all the way.

Yes, this is one of those "feel good" movies, but is that so bad? At times it seems shallow, but shallow means you won't drown-- in the overwritten script, overwrought plot, or over-the-top shenanigans typical of most Hollywood movies these days. The fact is, "Chef" is understated fun. Not a rollicking good time, but happy. Nothing bad happens to anyone. Life is quirky and interesting and full of iPhones and tweeting, so you're never alone.

Certainly a movie titled "Chef" is likely to be about cooking, but this is extreme; there was so much luscious-looking food being prepared and eaten that I nearly took a chunk out of the padded armrest of my theater seat. Popcorn or candy would have helped, but my friend and I left the theater craving something more substantial--like meat, maybe because it was missing from the movie. (Whatever you do, eat something before you see this.)

Writer-director-star Jon Favreau is a natural. He's so convincing as the star chef at a trendy California restaurant who reinvents himself as a purveyor of street food that I'm guessing he wasn't acting but just showed up on the set and started saying stuff. His two sidekicks (John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale) and the adorable 10-year-old son he bonds with for the first time are equally adept. Except for Dustin Hoffman in a cameo as a mean asshole, a role we don't buy this late in his long career of lovable characters, there's not a sour note anywhere.

A great salsa beat underscores everything, and the foodie road trip--with stops in Miami's hip South Beach, the French Quarter in New Orleans, and somewhere in Texas--keeps you from drifting off. Sofia Vergara and Scarlett Johansson are minor characters who look pretty but not much else, but then again, when you're that pretty you don't really need to be much else. The same might be said of this film.