I just finished watching Chef. What a fantastic movie. I love how he pulls off this feeling in the movie, that it just feels so natural, all the dialog feels improvised/natural as opposed to actors saying lines, it just feels like people are speaking through genuine warmth and banter.
Well most of the time. Obviously there’s a few scenes that do seem very scripted, like blowing up at the food critic.
What’s really impressive to me is that even the scenes with his kid seem natural, which can’t have been too easy to get out of a child actor, but the back and forth between Favreau’s character and his son is just done really well.
It’s worth noting that the movie has a lot of famous actors, but all their roles feel like natural roles, and they fit really well. Great stuff.
There’s a scene that I want to mention, where his son asks for kettle corn, and he says that’s sugar coating on carbs, and he grabs an orange, and says wouldn’t you rather have a piece of fruit? This delicious wonderful fruit. (Cut to next scene where they’re both having kettle corn).
I felt that frustration with myself when I became an adult and realized how wonderful fruit was, and felt like the child I was had really missed out, but had no real way to communicate that to myself as a kid. It’s just something you kind of have to realize yourself. Same with salad and other complex tastes and textures.
That grilled cheese scene @rrmorton posted above is pure food porn. Great scene in a great movie.
Not “great” in that it is any way innovative or particularly clever or well-written. “Great” in that all the pieces – casting, script, cinematography, locations, etc. – fit perfectly together as a great example of filmmaking.
I worked in restaurants for decades. They really captured a lot of what people actually love about the industry. Roy Choi is a big part of that in Chef, and if you enjoyed the film, check out The Chef Show on Netflix. Choi and Favreau cooking stuff with celebs and other great chefs.
