Jon Favreau celebrates his indie return with a culinary delight. Chef is a charming and sweet destination tale where the journey is more important than the ending. Chef won’t win you over with depth, but it will make you laugh and quietly take your heart.
Carl Casper (Favreau, also writing and directing), once the soup du jour of the Miami/California foodie crowd, is stuck in a rut. His restaurant just got slammed by blogger Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) and his restaurant owner (Dustin Hoffman) wants him to maintain the status quo. Carl then goes through a massive public breakdown ending by losing his job. With nowhere else to go, he accompanies his wife Inez (Sophia Vergara) and estranged son Percy (Emjay Anthony) to Miami, where he decides to buy a food truck. On the drive back to California, Percy, Carl, and Carl’s sous chef Martin (John Leguizamo) bond over their work and craft as Carl learns to become a better dad to his son.
The art of food is a very recent phenomenon. With shows like Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen, chefs have become something of a celebrity in the cities they reside in. Chef takes great care showcasing the burdens that other artists go through. Carl works very hard on the dishes he has created; when a high-horse critic comes in and lampoons his work, he is obviously deeply offended, it is as if his life is worth nothing to the man. In addition, artists themselves can be burdensome pushing boundaries and being moody, and Chef has some fun with Carl’s use of Twitter and resultant viral videos. Chef rightly takes food creation seriously, avoiding an ironic tone that would cripple the entire film.
Tone is the big reason why Chef is so winning. The movie is lighthearted and very funny, with a touch of warmth and earnestness. Characters are infused with at least one redeemable quality, and whenever their bad side is exposed, there is at least a reason for it. A rooting interest in finding happiness drives Chef forward while generating a laugh or two. The movie also limits the main screen time to only a few actors resulting in an unexpectedly poignant third act, and since we like most of the characters in Chef, the results are more satisfying than they probably should be.
Jon Favreau is as winning and likable as he was in Swingers as he is in Chef. His Carl is a tortured artist willing and open to personal relationships, a role Favreau fits well in. The relationship he creates with Emjay Anthony is very cute and fun. Anthony is requisitely cute, and sells his expansive social media background (though a few of these are a little hard to believe). Favreau does have lots of talented friends helping him out too. John Leguizamo fits right in as Favreau’s sidekick. Bobby Canavale, Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, and Sofia Vergara are pretty good in supporting roles. Robert Downey Jr., like he always does, steals the movie in his one scene playing an extension of himself.
Food trucks never looked so appetizing as they do in Chef. Jon Favreau gives us simmering dishes that rumble the tummy and eventually soothe the heart. Favreau’s creative vision does go a little too far, though: there’s no way he would have landed both Vergara and Johansson without pissing off one of them.