Chef

This is a movie that will leave you wanting more movie and food.

This afternoon I watched the 2014 movie Chef. It starred Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett, Johansson, Oliver Platt, and Dustin Hoffman. Robert Downey, Jr. even has a cameo. It was written and directed by Jon Favreau.

Chef takes places in the present day. Jon Farveau played Chef Carl Casper. Sofia Vergara played his ex-wife, Inez. John Leguizamo played Chef Carl’s assistant, Martin. Scarlett Johansson was Molly the hostess at Riva’s restaurant. Riva was played by Dustin Hoffman. Bobby Cannavale was another kitchen staffer at Riva’s named Tony.

The movie begins with Casper’s in Riva’s restaurant kitchen where he is cooking up a storm. Casper is the head chef at Riva’s restaurant. Knowing that he has a big critic Ramsey Michel coming in that night, Casper prepares a special meal. Casper leaves Martin and Tony in charge and heads to pick up Percy, his son. They head to the farmer’s market to pick out some ingredients. The two of them hang out and Casper shares his knowledge of food with his son. After returning to the restaurant, his staff is preparing the special meal Casper has dreamed up. However, Riva comes in and insists that Casper stick to the classic menu. Following an argument, Casper agrees to stick with the normal menu. At the end of the night, the kitchen staff is hanging out at bar when Ramsey’s review comes in, and Casper reads the two star review aloud. Molly helps cheer up Casper after the disappointing night and Casper cooks her something special. The next day when picking up Percy, Inez talks to Casper about his review and if he is doing okay. Casper then heads to work to create a new menu, and after a night of nonstop cooking he comes up with some new dish to try out. Later when hanging out with Percy, Casper has Percy sign him up for Twitter so he can check out the review and what everyone seems to be talking about.

Once he learns about Twitter, Chef Carl Casper keeps reading tweets and the articles on the internet that night before he decides to send a tweet to Ramsey thinking it is a direct personal message. Percy wakes up in the morning and discovers that Casper’s tweet has gone viral because Ramsey has answered with a rude reply. This leads to Chef Carl issuing a challenge to Ramsey and he accepts. As Carl preps the staff for the big night with his new menu, Riva comes in and forces Carl to stick with the same old menu. Riva tells Carl to be an artist on his own time. This upsets Carl and leads to an argument with Riva and Carl walking out of the restaurant. Now a man angry at the world, Carl heads home and cooks his temper away. Meanwhile at the restaurant, Ramsey has arrived and is forced to eat the same items as before. As he finishes up his food, Ramsey sends out a tweet and calls out Casper. Casper responds by showing up and blowing up in the face of Ramsey. Later, Casper meets up with Tony and Martin at a bar and they reflect on the recent events. Molly and Casper talk outside and she convinces him it is time he needs to refocus on Percy and different aspects of his life. Casper admits he does not know what to do next.

Now without a job or purpose, Casper shows up at Inez’s to hang out with Percy and Inez convinces Casper to come to Miami with Percy and her. Back where his career and passion as a chef started, a trip to Miami might have just been what Casper needed. The family heads to Little Havana to see Inez’s dad preform at a club. They all grab sandwiches and Inez convinces Casper his food is better. He then decides to meet with Marvin, Inez’s ex, and talk with him about getting a food truck. Casper and Percy spend all day cleaning and fixing the junked truck they get. Martin decides to come join Casper in Miami and helps get the truck in working order. Then Casper, Martin, and Percy decide to drive it across the country to Los Angeles. They make stops in food capitals, such as New Orleans and Austin, trying great food as they travel. As the group heads back to LA they gain popularity along the way. Can they keep up the success? Will the El Jefe food truck be a hit once it gets to the west coast? Will Ramsey approve of the new cuisine from Chef Casper? Has Casper finally found his calling?

I enjoy Chef almost as much as I enjoy my parent’s southern cooking. Chef might have been one of my favorite movies of last year. Jon Farveau puts on one of the best performances he’s had in years. Also the fact that he wrote and directed it makes it even better. I throughly enjoyed watching this movie and the only thing that would have made it better would have been to actually taste the food. This 114 minute movie is a great watch full of ups and downs. Watch as one man, Chef Carl Casper, searches to find his purpose and becomes a better chef, man, and father along the way. Never watch this movie when you are hungry, but I give Chef a five out of five stars. With a good following story this movie will never loose you’re interest.

“I get to touch people’s lives with what I do, and I love it, it keeps me going.” – Chef Carl Casper

As always thank y’all for reading.

Email us at SnacksCinema@gmail.com

Follow us on Twitter @SnacksCinema