Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Chef’

Written by Scott Edwards and John Edward Betancourt

​Scott’s Review
​One of the things that everybody has is an art, trade or craft they excel at, and it is different for everybody. No two people ever have to be the same when it comes to this. One person could be excellent at baking pies while someone else can design the oven that it is cooked in. Everyone has something that they are good at and I hope that in time everyone discovers this and is able to pursue it, because when you love what you do, it never feels like work.

Chef Carl Casper is one of the most promising chefs around the Los Angeles area and he knows it. Being praised for many years when coming out the gate, Carl is slated to get reviewed by one of the biggest bloggers in the area and this could make or break Carl’s career doing what he loves. Wanting to spice up the menu for his special visitor, Carl is given advice by his boss about what the people want to eat and not to change what already works. Although he does not agree with this, he believes that his boss knows best and follows the advice.

After receiving a rancid review, Carl wants to do or say something to save face and get another chance to prove that he is just as talented as he was when he hit the L.A. scene. With the help of his son, Percy, Carl gets connected to social media via Twitter and gets to read all of the unsavory things that have been posted. Trying to redeem himself, Carl posts a challenge to the reviewer to come back to the restaurant to try some real food. This time Carl has the menu all picked out and will not be stopped at his quest to prove the man wrong, but his boss has other ideas and threatens to fire Carl if he goes off menu. Fed up with his food censorship, Carl goes home without being able to cook for his new foe, but the reviewer comes in and blasts the cuisine once again. Beyond angry, Carl comes back down to the restaurant and gives the reviewer a piece of his mind and with all of the cell phones present, his confrontation goes viral on the internet.

Seeing a possibility of this being a good thing, Carl’s ex-wife puts him in touch with a couple of agents to see what could be done after this altercation. But Carl does not want the publicity, he just wants to cook, and he is offered one way out of his current downfall, a food truck. Although it is not the dream job, Carl gets the opportunity to cook what he wants, when he wants and that is too much to pass up. With the help of his old line cook, along with his son, Carl takes his new rolling business from Florida back to L.A. to live his life in style. All the way, Carl is challenged by his love for cooking and the love of his family whom he has never truly had the chance to be around.

Talk about a feel-good movie, bam, Jon Favreau hits this one out of the park. After watching this, you are left with great character growth by your three leads, feeling great about second chances and most of all… hungry. With a cast that will leave you in awe, there are so many people that make this movie magical, along with so many things about the internet that will make you wonder where the rock chef Carl was hiding under really is. I will admit that this story is much stronger than cooking, much stronger than second chances, it is about family and doing whatever it takes to make sure they know and understand that that they come first, which is one of the points I will always hammer home, at work, at play, at the office, in the… I don’t have a rhyme there, sorry. Oh well, this is a movie that you need to check out as you will laugh, maybe cry and most of all, leave hungry. Happy Viewing.

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​John’s Review
​Of the many, many reasons that I enjoy writing for the web, one that stands out in my mind is the fact that working together with a fantastic team at Nerds That Geek allows for all of us to share stories and franchises that each of us love and adore with one another. It simply helps to expand our minds and one man that I work with that sends me recommendations often, is Scotty, and I take those recommendations seriously because if he’s jazzed about a particular show or film, I know it’s something that is worthwhile and fun and one film that he said I needed to check out, was Jon Favreau’s Chef.
 
This is a film that he said would just be a delight for me to watch since it was so supremely different than anything else Favreau has done and my goodness he was right on all counts because this really was a special movie through and through and really, what caught me off guard first thing when I settled in to watch this flick, is the sheer intimacy on display. Which surprised me simply because up until this point, Favreau was well known for creating either quirky screenplays or big concepts films, so to see a simple story involving a chef was a refreshing change pace here for starters, but I must digress, because we need to talk more about the wonder of that intimacy.
 
Because what Jon accomplishes here is something that is often taboo in film, since he offers up plenty of simple and everyday moments between Chef Carl Casper and the rest of the characters. Ones that feature mundane conversations that experts and critics firmly believe won’t work on film because the industry standard is that dialogue has to pop during every waking moment of a film. But here, those routine conversations are downright fascinating because they feature words that we’ve all used at some point or another in our lives since Chef Casper discusses his frustrations at being held back creatively when it comes to his current job and how much he wants to get back to basics when it comes to cooking and how much his passion means to him.
 
Which brings us to what truly makes this motion picture so utterly magnificent, the fact that it is just so incredibly positive when it comes to its message revolving around chasing one’s dream and doing anything and everything one can to keep a passion alive. That is of course accomplished by Carl’s career change in the film when he buys a Food Truck and starts cooking food on his terms again, but the true wonder of this decision is how infectious it turns out to be since his buddy Martin (played brilliantly by John Leguizamo) and his son Percy join him on his food truck road trip and watching father and son cook, and seeing the joy that getting back to basics does for Carl is a blast to watch and well, it inspires.
 
Because when you’re done with this movie, your own passion and dream are at the top of your mind and you’re ready to drop everything to pursue it right then and there because of the feel-good nature of this film, and you want to experience the joy that Carl does and well, that makes this movie a must see in my book. It really is quite the unique story, and it features a magnificent cast who play their roles with glee and their A-list skills add depth to this story in the process and really, you just cannot go wrong with a movie that makes an effort to relate to the audience on a fundamental level and leaves you smiling in the process. So, please, check this one out, you’ll be glad you did.  
 

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