Chef (2014)

A chef who loses his restaurant job starts up a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family.

Director:

Jon Favreau

Writer:

Jon Favreau

Stars:

Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jon Favreau	...	Carl Casper
John Leguizamo	...	Martin
Bobby Cannavale	...	Tony
Emjay Anthony	...	Percy
Scarlett Johansson	...	Molly
Dustin Hoffman	...	Riva
Sofía Vergara	...	Inez
Oliver Platt	...	Ramsey Michel
Amy Sedaris	...	Jen
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Marvin
Russell Peters	...	Miami Cop
Chase Grimm	...	Vendor
Will Schutze	...	Mr. Bonetangles
Gloria Sandoval	...	Flora
Jose C. Hernandez	...	Abuelito (as Jose C. Hernandez 'Perico')

Storyline

Carl Casper is an acclaimed chef with a family life that seems as decaying as his artistic freedom. Those frustrations boil over into a raucous viral-videoed public confrontation against a restaurant critic who panned his cooking of food that his boss ordered him to make against his instincts. Now with his career ruined, Carl's ex-wife offers an unorthodox solution in Miami: refit an old food truck to offer quality cooking on his own terms. Now with his young son, Percy, and old colleague, Martin, helping, Carl takes a working trip across America with that truck to rediscover his gastronomic passion. With Percy's tech savvy and Martin's enthusiasm, Carl finds that he is creating a traveling sensation on the way home. In doing so, Carl discovers he is serving up more than simply food, but also a deeper connection with his life and his family that is truly delicious in its own way.

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Plot Keywords:

food | food truck | chef | cooking | boy | 

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Taglines:

Starting from scratch never tasted so good.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, including some suggestive references

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Pinterest

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

30 May 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kiss the Cook: So schmeckt das Leben

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$204,961 (USA) (9 May 2014)

Gross:

$31,237,528 (USA) (5 September 2014)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aldamisa Entertainment, Kilburn Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Before this film was produced, there was another film written by Steven Knight with a similar plot and also titled "Chef", being developed by Sony Pictures since 2007. When production of this movie started, Sony Pictures served Jon Favreau's production with a cease-and-desist over the title "Chef". Sony cleared the titles "Chef" and "The Chef" with the MPAA and requested Aldamisa (which controlled Favreau's film) to change the title of their film on threat of legal action. Favreau's film ended up with the title "Chef" and was released in 2014, while Sony's "Chef" changed its title to "Adam Jones" in 2014 and was retitled "Burnt" (Burnt (2015)) in 2015 and was released by The Weinstein Company in October 2015.

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Goofs

When they are loading the equipment onto the truck at the beginning of the movie, ostensibly in Miami, mountains are visible in the background.

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Quotes

Martin: Whose Bacon is this?
Martin: Huh?
Martin: I gotta watch this too?
Martin: When I found out you better grab your ankles! Cuz here comes Papi Chulo

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Crazy Credits

Near the end of the credits, there is a brief scene of chef Roi Choi teaching Jon Favreau how to make the perfect grilled cheese sandwich.

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Connections

References Iron Man (2008)

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Soundtracks

Que Se Sepa
Written by Titti Sotto
Performed by Roberto Roena y Su Apollo Sound
Courtesy of Fania Records

User Reviews

Happy, Uplifting, Feel Good Movie

I did not expect such a talented cast of actors mostly in small parts. Jon Favearu has a lot of friends. The actor who played his son is a find. He was great. Low key, sweet and very natural and believable. The story is good. It is about the chef and then the food truck, but it really is about him and his son. I liked that he was friends with his ex wife, Sofia Vergara, who did a great job. That struck home for me, because my ex and I get along well and it brought a lump to my throat to see how happy that made their son. It is special when divorced parents can get along and do things with their kids. The story moved quickly and I loved how the son used twitter and they incorporated social media into the story. Very realistic. I highly recommend this movie. Really a joy to watch.