Movieman Madness: Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 8): "Chef"

Emjay Anthony as Percy, Jon Favreau as Carl Casper, & Sofia Vergara as Inez.

When I think of Jon Favreau's best work, I think of Swingers, Made and Chef. Movies where Favreau serves as writer, director and lead actor. The characters he inhabits are sad sacks going through a personal crisis. As Mike Peters in Swingers, he's a comedian trying to make it in Hollywood while going through a break-up. In Made, he's Bobby Ricigliano, a boxer working with the mob to support his family.

Carl arguing with his boss Riva (Dustin Hoffman)
while co-worker Molly (Scarlett Johansson) watches.

In Chef, Favreau is Carl Capser, a divorced culinary artist and having a difficult time at his job. He wants to try cooking new dishes and innovated treats but his boss (Dustin Hoffman) wants him to stick to the menu and serve what the public wants. After a negative review from a well-renowned food critic (Oliver Platt) and a social media mishap, Carl's career quickly collapses. With nowhere else to go, Carl starts from scratch with a food truck and a chance to bond with his son Percy (Emjay Anthony) on a heart-warming and mouth-watering road-trip.

Carl trying to be tech-savy in front of Martin (John Leguizamo)
and Tony (Bobby Cannavale).

In many ways Chef feels like the final chapter of Favreau's Sad Sack trilogy that began with Swingers, and continued with Made. Swingers came from Favreau's experience of trying to get a fresh start in Hollywood after a break-up as seen with the Mike Peters character. Made was more of a spiritual successor to Swingers, not necessarily a sequel but you can spot the connections (Something he would repeat with Zathura as it shared no ties to the Jumanji film). Made was also Favreau's first time in the director's chair where he could make the movie he wanted make(a crime film tribute after guest-starring on his favorite show The Sopranos) where he called the shots and have the final word on the film. Like Swingers, Chef echoes Favreau's struggles on having the career he wanted but no longer having the same pizzaz as when he started.

All aboard El Jefe serving only the tastiest and appetizing meals.

There's a scene where Carl gets berated of when he cooks artsy food, no one orders it; it brought to mind Zathura and Cowboys & Aliens, movies that were mixed with critics to say the least but failed to bring audiences to the theater, resulting in box-office fails. Not allowed to be creative and forced to stick to the popular formula seems to recall Favreau's feud with Marvel during the making of Iron Man 2, a film that despite bringing in box-office bucks, was seen not as good as the original and the thumbs-down reception for the Cowboys movie, just like when Carl gets a negative review for his food.

Cubano Sandwiches

Where Carl has to start small to work his way back up, Chef is Favreau's return to making low-budget independent movies after a decade of making Hollywood blockbusters, with a delicious end result. Do not watch this movie on an empty stomach, for food are the real stars as we see it prepared, cooked and served that will make anyone drool, especially for a Cubano sandwich. In traditional Favreau filmmaking, improvisation is applied making the characters and the situations they're in feel believable. The theme of fatherhood is at its strongest with Percy wanting to spend time with his father and wishing he would come back with Mom (Sofia Vergara). It does a better job on handling the harmful and sad effects of a broken family than what Zathura was aiming for.

Percy learning how to cook with Martin and his dad.

The movie includes the best cast that Favreau has assembled with John Leguizamo being the comedic and stellar stand-out as Carl's best friend and Robert Downey Jr. in a quick cameo.

Carl getting the menu ready while Martin brings in the crowd.

If there was one flaw in the movie it would the the characters played by Scarlett Johansson and Bobby Cannavale. They play a big part in the movie but after the first act they completely disappear and are never seen for the rest of film. It's a real shame as I wanted to see what became of them as the film wrapped -up.

The Jon Favreau's Sad Sack Trilogy

Chef expresses Favreau's frustrations, and joys that many can relate to and at the same time a celebration of creativity, criticism, culture and the people that really matter in our lives. It began with Swingers in search for that meaningful spark, Made maintained a hold on that spark despite the hardships that were thrown at it, and Chef reminds us why it mattered to hold on to that spark.

Director Trademarks:

Fatherhood