Man, I laughed a TON during this. It felt like 95% comedy, 5% thriller/horror to me.
Anyone who says they watched Chef’s Table 3 times to gain insight into how to cook food is hilarious. They telegraphed Tyler being a horrible poser super early on in the story. If dude had been like “I read McGee cover to cover 3 times” maybe he wouldn’t have cooked a bunch of bullshit. Most of the other characters had similar over the top archetypes, as did the chef / sous chef. Maybe it was supposed to be that transparent?
Despite (or because of) all that I was highly entertained, and didn’t see many of the twists that were on the menu. The acting was pretty great all around, with of course Ralph Fiennes and Anna Taylor Joy absolutely killing it. I would have liked this movie being a little closer to “The Bear”, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying it.
I watched this last night with my gal, and absolutely loved it. My background- unlike OP @Alan_Dunkin, I’m on the other end of the spectrum. I’m a chef. I’ve been in the industry for 27? 28? years. And in a hilarious coincidence, like Fiennes’ character in the movie my first cooking job was making burgers at a Johnny Rocket’s, just like he does (smash burgers, I guess is the hip word for them now?), and I’ve spent years in the locavore/farm-to-table end of the industry- I ran a nonprofit devoted to that stuff for a while, and started my business in the local farmer’s market system.
This movie absolutely goddamn skewered that world. I have known every character in the movie on some level, from the absurd chef, to the entitled bros who ‘know the owner’, to the folks who come in regularly and drop several bills on food they’ll never remember, to the over obsessed foodie home cook, to the kitchen staff, etc, etc. Yes, they were all caricatures, but really, not that much, in the end. It was glorious. I laughed out loud several times. It was my second-favorite movie that came out last year.
I suspect I’m that couple, I’m not stupid enough to claim I could be the chef - though I would have cooked a french omelette rather than trying to produce a real dish at the stove.
I will go to top end restaurants for the experience while I’m there and leaving replete & well looked after. From top end, I can remember some specific dishes - carrot tartare at 11 Madison Park, Seven ages of Parmesan at Osteria Francescana, the duck at the Fat Duck, pigeon sausage at the Clove Club but not whole menus.
I do think I’m over tasting menus though, unless it’s really top, it can feel like you’ve been kidnapped for three hours. Too many mediocre restaurants have decided to use it as a way to manage stock and increase revenue.
I know quite a few chefs and I’ve never known them to be quite as much of a dick as the Raph Fiennes character but then I probably wouldn’t go to his restaurant if that was the reputation of the patron. I have known one chef since he opened a fine dining place around ten years ago. He’s got more & more stressed as time has gone on. He’s pushing for 3 stars, he currently has 2, and I can no longer eat there. I know him well enough that I can see how tense he is and so can’t have a relaxed meal. It doesn’t take a huge imagination to see him totally losing it one day.
I really enjoyed the film overall; very familiar setting, and I thought it was a lot of fun, but then I also love a good cheeseburger.
I took my son to see this tonight. The guy tearing the tickets said, “I think you made a really good choice! There are a lot of great movies out right now, but I think this one is leaving theaters soon. I should go see it while it’s still here!” When I left the theater, I walked right over to the guy, tipped him a $20, and told him to go see the movie.
Good comparison! To me it felt like Midsommar meets Tár, and I enjoyed it better than both of them. It was generally what I was expecting, but then it surprised me at every turn. Highly recommended.
This felt like the American made-for-TV version of Triangle of Sadness: competently shot and acted, sure, but bogged down by its clumsy and unimaginative “eat the rich” moralizing. And when it comes to making fun of foodies, Pig is the far more delicate and authentic delicacy.
Also, Hong Chau’s bangs in this movie are a crime against humanity. After disappointing roles in this and Watchmen, I’m worried she’s getting typecast as “weird Asian lady”. I want to see her doing more stuff like Downsizing and a little indie movie she did with Brian Dennehy called Driveways.
My girlfriend I just watched this. We both enjoyed it; loved the dark humor. Definitely not believable (the kitchen staff?) and, as Tom said, the moralizing was over the top. But for a mainstream dark comedy, I thought it worked. Laughed out loud a number of times.
I hope you saw this, because it’s gonna resonate.
My girlfriend loves fancy-ass tasting meals. I need to pay start paying cash for them because when the credit card bill comes weeks after I digested it I realize the joy-per-dollar doesn’t match an amazing normal-priced dinner for me. I appreciate the effort and creativity, but I can think of exactly one meal I’ve spent over $300 on that I didn’t regret later. (EVOO in Cannon Beach, Oregon.)
Just the course description cards were worth the time investment for me.
I found Midsommar much more horrifying, this was essentially a satire, but one I really enjoyed for the most part. Once the first twist is in it wasn’t that surprising as it went along but I enjoyed it nevertheless, the last horror movie to really surprise me was Cabin In The Woods, and I came away from that wanting a hell of a lot more of the last third than the first two.
Fancy meals, I haven’t had a bunch but I did have a 3 star at Robuchon once, I specifically remember the soup dish and not much else. (Chestnut veloute)
My wife, who hates horror, had no problem getting through this. I don’t think she’d be okay with Midsommar. I feel like that movie really really layered that on towards the end with the increasingly uncomfortable camera shots and added unsettling camera effects.
The matter-of-fact ugliness of Midsommar is what sold the horror for me. The elder suicide, the cult accepting it as reality, and that far, far away screaming made it terrifying. It did break down somewhat in the sense that the new kids didn’t get the fuck out of there as soon as it got murdery is the only quibble I have. After the elder suicide I would have been, “Wow, this is great, can’t wait to learn more about you!” and then I’m fucking off into the woods or whatever as soon as I get a chance.
Very true, but they didn’t push it. I’ve dealt with way too many second locations in Cletusville to not get the fuck out immediately when things get culty.
