Gail and I went to see this at the AMC 30 and it just sucked us in. John Favreau saw us coming and kidnapped us for 90 minutes with a simple, light, yet very cool food movie. Gail and I see a lot of food movies and we loved this. Keep in mind, we’re not very discerning when it comes to food movies.
Chef seems to have been a pet project of Favreau’s. He wrote, directed, produced, and starred in it, so it’s his movie for sure. He has a ton of help though from some huge stars whom I’m betting he got to do this for a pittance.
The female co-stars are played by Sofia Vergara and Scarlett Johansson. Sofia went with the blonde hair and Scarlett with the black hair, which I found kind of interesting. Robert Downey Jr. knocked it out of the park in one of the funniest movie scenes I’ve seen in a while as the nutty ex-husband of Chef’s ex-wife. Just effing hilarious. Dustin Hoffman and Oliver Platt play two antagonists with just enough good qualities to avoid being hated. Lequizamo and Cannavale are insanely funny as Chef’s kitchen help.
This little kid named Emjay Anthony was the best though. He played Chef’s son with a lot of heart and some innocent humor. The dude has a future I think.
Then there’s Roy Choi, the inventor of the damn food truck, who, it appears was the inspiration for this movie. I’m betting Favreau has had the Kogi truck at a movie set or something and said to himself, “This stuff is better than anything I’ve had at a Michelin three-star restaurant” (at least I hope that’s what he said). TIP: Wait until after the credits to watch Choi give Favreau a lesson in making a grilled cheese. Awesome!