Chef

Directed by Jon Favreau

Written by Jon Favreau

Starring Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Emjay Anthony, Sofia Vergara,  Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt, Robert Downey Jr.

With this foodie comedy Jon Favreau proves his salt outside of the superhero genre.

For LA chef Carl (Favreau) cooking is a form of self-expression and anger management, even a method of foreplay. As Carl journeys from frustrated restaurant cook to creative master of Cuban cuisine Chef is delightfully witty and rude, yet it also endearingly portrays Carl’s growing relationship with son Percy (Anthony).

Chef’s strongest in the road movie-like latter half which sees Carl and Percy launch a food truck business, but the film is let down by a clichéd Hollywood romance unnecessarily shoehorned into the already uplifting conclusion.

Favreau serves up a film as impeccably presented as one of Carl’s dishes, combining an on the nose soundtrack with flawless casting and a slick awareness of the uses and abuses of social media. A sure-fire recipe for success.