The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) [PG] ****

A film review by James Berardinelli, for ReelViews.net, on Aug. 7, 2014.

There's something gentle, charming, and old-fashioned about The Hundred-Foot Journey, a family-friendly motion picture from director Lasse Hallstrom based on the book by Richard C. Morais. A non-confrontational movie about the power of food and family, The Hundred-Foot Journey makes good use of the considerable talents of its veteran leads, Helen Mirren and Om Puri, to represent the cultural and culinary differences that exist between India and France. The sweep of the movie isn't all placid; elements of romance and whimsy are counterbalanced by instances in which the ugliness of xenophobia emerges. Only toward the end, when the narrative stumbles during an extended epilogue, does the concoction crumble a bit.

Director Hallstrom's last great movie was probably The Cider House Rules, which came out in 1999. In the interim, he has made some low-key, pleasant films (like Chocolat, An Unfinished Life and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) and a couple of forgettable adaptations of Nicholas Sparks’ novels (Dear John and Safe Haven). The Hundred-Foot Journey is vintage Hallstrom - genial and meditative, focusing more on characters and emotions than an overcooked plot. The story is simple; the people inhabiting the movie make this worth seeing.

Om Puri plays the patriarch of the Kadam family, a group of six who have departed India and come to France to open a restaurant. He is accompanied by his three adult children: Mukthar (Dillon Mitra), Mahira (Farzana Dua Elahe), and would-be chef Hassan (Manish Dayal). Hassan has great talent in the kitchen but the death of his mother haunts him. Papa decides that the best place to start this new life is in an abandoned building near the outskirts of a town in the south of France, Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val. To him, it seems to be a great place to open Maison Mumbai but his children point out a problem: across the street is the highly respected restaurant of Le Saule Pleureur. The proprietress of this classical French establishment, Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren), is not keen on competition. Not dissuaded, Papa presses on. Meanwhile, Hassan forms a quasi-romantic friendship with Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon), one of Madame Mallory's sous chefs. Soon, the two rival establishments are engaged in an all-out culinary war… until things go too far.

Hallstrom's filmmaking techniques are straightforward - the images lensed by his cinematographer, Linus Sandgren, emphasize the beauty of the terrain, creating an almost fairy tale locale. Although the movie is set in contemporary times (as evidenced by the presence of a cell phone early in the proceedings and modern equipment during the epilogue in Paris), it feels as if it's taking place in the '70s or '80s. There are rotary phones, people use bicycles or old cars for transportation, and there's nary a computer to be found. For the most part, the lifestyle in and around Saint-Antonin feels like it's frozen in an earlier, simpler era.

There's a sense that Hallstrom is attempting to develop the kind of food-saturated ambiance that has characterized films like Babette's Feast and Big Night. However, although the various dishes are lovingly presented, they don't reach into the stomach quite the way those earlier films did - although it wouldn't be entirely unexpected if some viewers expressed a desire for Indian cuisine for a post-movie repast. There's also an interesting montage of shots in which Hallstrom uses the chopping and dicing of vegetables to represent skirmishes in the ongoing conflict between Maison Mumbai and Le Saule Pleureur.

The Hundred-Foot Journey represents a pleasant diversion for those who have grown weary of traditional summer movie fare. The picture is about people and how they interact. There are no explosions or car chases. There are no sex scenes - only a few kisses and a little dancing. The movie is at times too sentimental and the story line is neither original nor surprising, but the production as a whole gains points for its unalloyed charm. This is one dish that has been cooked well enough to satisfy. [Berardinelli’s rating: 3 out of 4]

Labels: comedy, cross-cultural, drama, food, Paris, romance

Internet Movie Database 

Metacritic 55/100 

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=62, viewers=80) 

Blu-ray 

Chef (2014) [R] ****

A film review by Lou Lumenick, New York Post, May 7, 2014.

Actor-director Jon Favreau, who has served up his share of bland summer blockbusters since breaking out with Swingers 18 years ago, returns to his indie roots with the succulent low-budget amuse-bouche Chef.

He’s great as a celebrity chef who’s forced to re-examine his priorities in this extremely funny and big-hearted comedy that Favreau also wrote.

It has lots of smart things to say about social media, criticism and father-son relationships — while also appealing to fans of food porn and mildly raunchy buddy movies.

Chef Carl Casper’s decision to abandon his hugely successful but unadventurous menu for something livelier leads to confrontation with his Los Angeles restaurant’s owner (Dustin Hoffman).

Even worse, the naive Carl stumbles into a Twitter war and YouTube meltdown with a celebrated food blogger (Oliver Platt).

Unemployed and with no prospects except an offer from TV’s Hell’s Kitchen, Carl mounts a comeback in a run-down food truck donated by the ex-husband (Robert Downey Jr. in a hilarious one-scene cameo) of his ex-wife (Sofía Vergara).

She sees the truck’s rehabilitation as an opportunity for Carl to spend quality time with their 11-year-old son (the appealing Emjay Anthony), whom he’s long neglected.

Also along for the road trip from Miami to LA — by way of New Orleans and Austin — is Carl’s former line cook at the restaurant, played by the frequently misused John Leguizamo in his best role in years. (Bobby Cannavale, also very good, inherits Carl’s job back in L.A.).

Favreau juggles the film’s disparate comic elements as deftly as Carl serves up Cubano sandwiches and barbecue delicacies — even as his son expertly works Twitter and Facebook to turn Dad into a viral sensation.

Some scenes and speeches go on a tad too long, and Scarlett Johansson has far more screen time than really necessary in a largely expository role as a sommelier who disappears halfway through the movie.

But I think audiences will join me in indulging Favreau for such a purely entertaining comedy, the best movie about food since Ratatouille.

Be prepared to eat up a storm afterward. The food here is that appetizing.

[Lumenick’s rating: 3 out of 4]

Labels: comedy, food

Internet Movie Database

Metacritic 68/100

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=68, viewers=80)

Blu-ray

Eat Pray Love (2010) [PG-13] ***

Part sensual food fest in Rome, Italy [Eat], part inner spiritual journey at an ashram in Mumbai, India [Pray], and part romance in Bali, Indonesia [Love], this is the chronicle/travelogue of one woman's search for her identity over the course of a year. Julia Roberts is perfectly cast as Elizabeth Liz Gilbert, and the supporting roles in her personal odyssey are equally well cast, especially: Billy Crudup, Viola Davis and James Franco as her husband, best friend and lover, respectively, in New York; Richard Jenkins as her friend at the ashram in Mumbai, and Javier Bardem as her lover in Bali.

The cinematography is gorgeous and the music is gentle and evocative. The special features on the DVD will enhance your understanding of the film as well as of the film-making process, and I encourage you to watch them after viewing the movie. I should caution you that professional film critics have not been kind to this film, and you may want to read one or two reviews first. Regardless, this film and Liz Gilbert's book from which the film's screenplay was written have touched a great many hearts and minds. 

Labels: adventure, biography, cross-cultural, drama, food, romance 
Internet Movie Database
Metacritic 50/100 
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=51, viewers=60) 
Blu-ray
Wikipedia - Elizabeth Gilbert

Julie & Julia (2009) [PG-13] ****

It's 1949, and Paul Child (Stanley Tucci), a U.S. State Dept. diplomat, has just been posted to Paris. He brings with him his wife Julia (Meryl Streep), who, bored with making hats and playing bridge, attends Le Cordon Bleu, a professional cooking school, and decides to write a cookbook about French cooking for servant-less American wives. The result is the classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, co-written with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle.

The scene shifts to New York in 2002, where we find Julie Powell (Amy Adams) and her husband Eric (Chris Messina) living in an apartment in Queens above a pizzeria. Julie is a mid-level bureaucrat whose job is to try to help survivors deal with the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack. To relieve her disenchantment and boredom, Julie's husband suggests she start blogging, and she decides to cook all 524 of Julia Child's recipes in a single year. Julie later published her blog as the book Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, which writer/director Nora Ephron turned into a screenplay.

The action shifts back and forth between Paris in the late '40s and early '50s, and New York in 2002-03. Streep is perfect as the strong-willed and conventional Julia Child, and Amy Adams is believable, although not particularly endearing, as the self-absorbed, emotional Julie Powell. Tucci and Messina are excellent in their supporting roles. The film is billed as a heartwarming comedy-drama, although neither the comedy nor the drama is particularly compelling. Nora Ephron has done better work as a writer, for example: When Harry Met Sally..., Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail. The success of the film really is due to Meryl Streep's impressive and accurate portrayal of Julia Child. Sadly, Julia Child (who passed away in 2004 at age 91) and Julie Powell never did meet, although Child was apparently aware of the blogger and considered her cooking/writing project to be neither serious nor professional, and perhaps even disrespectful. This film will be best appreciated by fans of Meryl Streep, foodies, and lovers of food-focused films like Big Night, Chocolat, Eat Drink Man Woman, Mostly Martha, No Reservations and Tortilla Soup. 

Labels: biography, comedy, drama, Fifties, food, Paris, romance    
IMDb 70/100   
Metacritic 66/100    
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=67, viewers=70)    
Blu-ray    
Wikipedia - Julia Child

No Reservations (2007) [PG] ***

Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is the chef at a tony little New York City restaurant. She's temperamental, hypersensitive to criticism about her cuisine, and she rules her kitchen with an iron hand. Her philosophy is that the only way to get something done right is to do it yourself. And so she drives everyone crazy, including Paula (Patricia Clarkson) the restaurant owner, who has told Kate that either she gets therapy or she's fired.

Then tragedy strikes. Kate's sister is killed in an auto accident, and suddenly Kate finds herself the guardian of her pre-teen niece, Zoe (Abigail Breslin). Kate does not have a clue about how to comfort grieving Zoe, about how much love she needs or about what she eats. In addition, when Kate returns to the restaurant a week later, she discovers that Paula has hired a new sous chef, Nick (Aaron Eckhart). Nick loves Italian cuisine, and he sings opera while he cooks. He's completely changed the atmosphere in the kitchen, for the better. Nick is attracted to Kate from the first moment, but the thing keeping them apart is Kate's fear that Nick is after her job; she doesn't realize that he took the sous chef job because he wants to learn from her.

The real question in the viewer's mind is whether Kate will wake up and realize how good Nick is for her, both personally and professionally, before she drives him away. Zoe acts as the catalyst bringing Kate and Nick together, and in some ways Abigail Breslin is the best part of the film, especially when she's on screen with both Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart. Kate and Nick do not have much romantic chemistry, the screenplay is not particularly original or inventive, and Philip Glass' musical score is a little too techno-futuristic. Regardless, if you like romantic comedies around the subject of food and restaurants, films like Eat Pray Love, Julie & Julia and Tortilla Soup or if you enjoyed Abigail Breslin in Definitely, Maybe, then you will likely enjoy No Reservations. 

Labels: comedy, drama, food, romance   

Internet Movie Database    

Metacritic 50/100     

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=52, viewers=66)     

Blu-ray

Tortilla Soup (2001) [PG-13] ****

From the opening title you know this is going to be a sensual film... it's all about Mexican cuisine... the colors, smells, tastes, textures, and the sounds of food preparation. All of our senses are engaged and stimulated, and our mouths begin to water even before the first scene. Letitia, Carmen and Maribel Naranjo are three unmarried daughters living with their widowed father Martin (Hector Elizondo), who's part owner of a restaurant in Los Angeles. Martin never remarried and all he has left is his cooking, but now he's losing his sense of taste and smell.

His three daughters have their own daily lives but they all get together for Sunday dinner... it's a family tradition. Letitia (Elizabeth Pena) the oldest, is a high school chemistry teacher and a fervent, tightly-wound Christian. Carmen (Jacqueline Obradors) is a smart, beautiful, high-powered businesswoman, with a healthy sex life, who likes to cook; she creates Mexican dishes her boyfriend calls Nuevo Latino. And Maribel (Tamara Mello), the youngest, is an innocent ingenue who works in a music store and is a bit obsessive compulsive. Add to the mixture Yolanda (Constance Marie), a lovely neighbor who's a divorcee and a single parent, whom Martin finds very attractive, Hortensia (Raquel Welch) her meddling, husband-hunting mother who cannot resist dispensing irritating advice, several of Letitia's high school students who play matchmaker for Letitia and the baseball coach, and a handsome Brazilian boy whom Maribel falls for, and you have all the ingredients for passion, romance and drama.

The screenplay is charming and the soundtrack is incredible. Hector Elizondo is terrific as Martin, the widower who holds the family together and prepares the delicious, mouth-watering Mexican cuisine. If you like warm, family-oriented, character-driven romantic comedy dramas, films like Fools Rush In, and you enjoy Mexican food, you will love Tortilla Soup. 

Labels: comedy, drama, food, rom-com-faves, romance     
Internet Movie Database 6.7/10     
MetaScore (Critics=58, Viewers=68)
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=74, viewers=71)
Blu-ray

Chocolat (2000) [PG-13] **** (updated 12 Feb 2026)

The unyielding morality of a small, rural French town is strained when single mother Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) arrives with her young daughter Anouk (Victoire Thivisol) early in 1959, just as Lent begins. Across the town square from the church, Vianne opens Chocolaterie Maya, featuring exotic chocolates made from pre-Columbian Mayan recipes. Vianne’s special gift is to be able to guess each customer’s favorite, and as she gradually wins over the townspeople, the rigid mayor Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina) believes he’s in a battle with the Devil for their souls, and he enlists his young priest Pere Henri (Hugh O'Conor) to get his message across.

This delightful, character-driven, romantic comedy-drama features an outstanding supporting cast including Judi Dench and Carrie-Anne Moss as an estranged mother and daughter, Lena Olin who takes refuge with Vianne and learns the craft of chocolate making, and Johnny Depp as Roux, a gypsy who lives on the river in a houseboat. If you’ve forgotten how sensual, decadent and delicious chocolate, in all its forms, can be, Chocolat will reawaken those memories.

Labels: comedy, drama, food, romance, Fifties
IMDb 72/100
MetaCritic (critics=64. viewers=67)
RottenTomatoes (critics=64, viewers=83)
Blu-ray

Blogger's comment: At the end of the film Pere Henri gives a short Easter Sunday sermon which I have transcribed because it speaks to what we as Americans are enduring at this moment in 2026:

I'm not sure what the theme of my homily today ought to be. Do I want to speak of the miracle of our Lord's divine transformation? Not really, no. I don't want to talk about His divinity. I'd rather talk about His humanity. I mean, you know, how He lived His life here on earth. His kindness. His tolerance. Listen, here's what I think. I think we can't go around measuring our goodness by what we don't do. By what we deny ourselves, what we resist and and who we exclude. I think we've got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include.