Chef

With the arrival of a very famous food critic, head chef Jon Favreau decides he wants to spice things up a bit with a new menu in his L.A. restaurant. However, restaurant owner Dustin Hoffman doesn’t like that idea, convinces Favreau to stick to the old reliables, and the critic gives a harsh review. This sends Favreau into a tailspin, getting him fired and leaving his kinda-girlfriend Scarlett Johannson so he can go on a trip to Miami with his ex-wife Sofia Vergara and their cute son that he doesn’t have much of a relationship with. While there, Vergara’s other ex-husband Robert Downey Jnr takes pity and gives him a food truck for free, which reignites Favreau’s love of cooking, and he drives it back home with his son, as well as his best mate John Lequizamo.

This could have very easily been an overly saccharine “Do what you love and everything will work out for the best” message movie, but thankfully it’s laced with enough sly wit and intelligently written characters that any chance of cinematic diabetes is bypassed completely. It would’ve been easy for the food critic (Oliver Platt) or Hoffman to be made the villains, but instead their given reasonable positions, and the movie doesn’t look for or provide any easy right or wrong answers.

As both writer and director, this is obviously something of a passion project with Favreau, and it can sometimes feel like he’s still licking his wounds after the less-than-stellar reactions to Iron Man 2 and Cowboys & Aliens (at times the movie gets quiiiiiiiite close to straight-out critic bashing), plus it’s not exactly a real world problem to have to choose between Scar Jo and Sofia Vergara as the loves of your life.

Still though, the father-son dynamic is one of the best we’ve seen in a while - young actor Emjay Anthony is definitely one to keep an eye on - and Favreau’s interactions with technology, be it bungling up his first ever Tweet or trying to understand the reasoning for Vine to exist, are never not funny.

In the midst of fast food blockbusters this summer, Chef is a palette cleanser that is well worth seeking out. Oh, and yes, all of the food looks amazing. Make sure you have dinner reservations already booked for right after the movie.