From The Objective Standard, Vol. 9, No. 4.
Jon Favreau: Genevieve
Chef, written and directed by Jon Favreau. Starring Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Emjay Anthony, Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, Sofía Vergara, Oliver Platt, and Robert Downey Jr. Distributed by Open Roads Films, 2014. Rated R for language, including some suggestive references. Running time: 114 minutes.
Rare is the film about a businessman who loves his work. Chef is such a film.
Jon Favreau, who wrote and directed the film, portrays Carl Casper, a chef at odds with the owner of the restaurant where he works. Carl wants to experiment and innovate with his menu; the owner wants him to prepare the same menu the restaurant has always served. The tension comes to a head when a famous food critic (portrayed by Oliver Platt) pans Carl’s food after Carl, under pressure from the owner, abandons his planned menu.
What’s worse, Carl and the critic get into a nasty war of words on social media, subjecting Carl to intense Internet mockery.
Carl reaches rock bottom after he loses his job. He had already gotten divorced from his wife, and his relationship with his son had fallen apart. Things never looked grimmer.
Finally Carl decides to try an approach he had vowed never to try: . . .
