A Poem in AABB Rhyme Scheme...

Her Ode to ‘da Club

On evenings like this we proclaim,

our love for the dumb and profane.

We seek out the worst douchebaggery,

all bedecked from Ed Hardy’s gallery.

Their attention we do greatly want,

for tonight we are on the hunt.

Though we yearn to get up in his lap,

what we’ll find is herpes or clap.

A Sentimental and Satisfying Meal...

In order for a movie to succeed, it must connect with the audience.  Most films rely on sentiment to achieve this connection.  The difference between a bad and a good movie is often whether the audience views this sentiment as legitimate or as artificial.  In order to achieve legitimate sentiment, you need good acting and even better writing.  Chef achieves both of these.  

Written, starring, and directed by Jon Favreau, Chef follows Los Angeles chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) on his journey from head chef at an exclusive restaurant, to owner of a popular food truck. Carl’s restaurant is owned by a man (Dustin Hoffman) focused on the bottom line, as evidenced by the boring but popular menu foisted upon Carl.  When an important food critic (Oliver Platt) rips into the food as mediocre and without imagination, Carl goes berserk and loses his job.  This then leads to a re-examination of life, which includes an attempt to reconnect with his long-ignored son through a glorious road trip across America in his new food truck named el Jefe.

Favreau’s writing chops were proven in the 1996 cult classic, Swingers.  As a director, Elf and the Iron Man films showed he could also work behind the camera.  It is not difficult to see that Favreau’s experience as a writer, actor, and director led to this film.  The evidence is the emotional complexity that the actors bring to their performances combined with the solid writing and direction that brings it all together.  Favreau is very believable as the busy father who has trouble finding time for his son, wonderfully played by EmJay Anthony.  Over the course of the film, he rediscovers their bond and the connection between the two changes in a noticeable way.  This change appears to be organic and gradual; an example of sentiment with legitimacy.

Scarlett Johanssen, Amy Sedaris, Robert Downey Jr, Sofia Vergara, and Bobby Cannavale all provide very solid small performances in what is truly an all-star cast.  However, John Leguizamo, as Martin the line cook, shines brighter than any of the other supporting cast.  His energy, believability, and humor give the film a boost at key moments in the plot, especially in the road trip scenes on the food truck.  It is clear that Favreau and his team went to extraordinary lengths to gather the right cast for this film.  No miscasting in this production.

An ingenious plot device is employed by Favreau to provide dramatic tension.  Throughout the film, a Twitter war between Platt’s food critic and the chef is shown on the background of the screen as the viewer watches the film.  At first, I wondered how much Twitter had paid for this.  I had to overcome my own personal bias towards Twitter as a proto-Facebook for people with even LESS attention-span.  In the end, it was an extremely clever way to visually advance the plot and provided a great deal of comedy.

Chef barely earns its “R” rating.  With no sex and no violence, I would deem it appropriate for middle-schoolers and up.  A beautiful little film, Chef is the culmination of Jon Favreau’s growth as a movie-maker.  The sentiment is never artificial and the performances are outstanding.  This well-written film deserves your attention.

4 of 5 Stars.

Let's Review...

It is always true that a film can not make everyone happy.  No matter how wonderful the writing, casting, acting, directing, and cinematography, there will be a critic that amidst the hoopla, hikes up his pants and yells “Stop!”. Take a film...your favorite film, the critics favorite film, the film that won Best Picture to wild acclaim, and I will show you a contrary voice.  

I present the acclaimed motion picture “Chinatown”.  Lauded by many as the “perfect film”, it has been a darling of critics and audiences since its release.  In fact, it has only become more respected as time has gone by.  Yet, of the 62 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, only 61 of them are positive.  The legendary Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune was the lone voice of dissent. It is hard to imagine why anyone would give this film a negative review...which only proves the point.

The reality of review, be it of music, stage, screen, book, or video-game, is that the reviewer’s emotional engagement with the subject is partly responsible for his ultimate opinion.  Until we are subjugated by the A.I. robots, there will be no completely objective review that takes into account the 349 exact factors which make a film “great”.  Review is not a science, it is an art.  To make it a science, we would have to remove humans from the equation.  And really, who wants to read a review by a robot?

So, what makes a good reviewer?  He must be dispassionate.  Imagine if his film reviews were overly subjected to the whims of his emotional life.  You have done it yourself.  Look back and think of a film you loved because of the person with whom you sat and watched it.  Of course, part of your love of that film was the film itself.  You can not speak of this phenomenon in absolutes.  However, some films, “Man of the House”, starring Chevy Chase, comes to mind, would require an overwhelmingly positive outside emotional event in order to achieve the status of a great film. Perhaps, while watching the film, if I had been making out with Kate Upton and had just received word that I won the Powerball jackpot, I MIGHT have felt differently.

Is that all that makes a good reviewer?  No, he must be passionate!  How can a film be great if it does not connect with the emotions of the human beings that watch it?  Is there any point to art if we remove emotion from the equation?  The central feature of what makes a film great MUST be the emotional impact it makes.  One of my favorite films, “Once”, is so close to my heart because of the emotional impact of the main characters’ slow realization that they were falling in love.  Of course, it’s all in the presentation.  Clumsily done, a love story, thriller, or action movie can be unintentionally humorous.  If you would like a wonderful example, I urge you to watch “The Room”...the best terrible movie you’ll ever see (with the possible exception of Troll 2).

So, dispassionate...and passionate.  The reviewer must tread carefully.  Know thyself.  If you are aware of your emotions then it is easier to take them into account when analyzing the subject.  Embrace your humanity and the logic of which you are fully capable.  Only then will you be able to start the process of review in good faith.

The Phantom Menace was SO much better than Empire Strikes Back. Discuss...

A visual depiction of my writing process...

Hat tip to Guy Billout for the wonderful artwork.