Chef - 3 1/2 smiles

Producer, writer, director, actor. Jon Favreau does it all in “Chef” and he does it well. Although a bit long, this movie is a nuanced film that’s one of the most heartwarming of the year. Favreau plays Carl Casper, a talented but burned-out chef in a trendy Los Angeles eatery owned by Riva (Dustin Hoffman), who recognizes his chef’s talents and frustrations, but is not interested in a cutting-edge menu, especially when a well-known critic, Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt), comes to dine. Carl’s clash with the critic, in which he upbraids the speechless Michel for ruining careers for the sake of cleverness and not realizing that words hurt, goes viral. And when the technologically illiterate Carl engages in a public war of words, he becomes a Twitter sensation and is immediately fired. This is a lengthy set-up for what will become a cross-country road trip as Carl decides to refurbish a food truck that he will drive from Miami to Los Angeles with 10-year-old son Percy (a wonderful Emjay Anthony).

Favreau is good as Carl, but he also has a wonderful supporting cast. John Leguizamo is his right-hand man and sous-chef along with Dustin Hoffman, Sofia Vergara (as his ex-wife), Robert Downey Jr. (as Vergara’s ex-husband), Amy Sedaris is a hysterical bit involving Hell’s Kitchen, and Scarlett Johansson as Carl’s potential girlfriend. You need not be a foodie to appreciate the film’s reverence for a good meal. One meticulous scene in particular, of Carl making a grilled cheese sandwich for his son at home, underscores the art of cooking. And everyone in the audience audibly oooohed when he set it in front of Percy. Besides the great culinary scenes are the sweet moments between father and son and there’s palpable chemistry between Favreau and young Anthony. There are no surprises or bumps along the way, but that’s part of what’s so enjoyable about “Chef.” 5/11/14