The greatest food flick of all time is "Babette's Feast." A close second is "Eat Drink Man Woman." "The Big Night" and "Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?" were pretty good too. This one belongs with the last two. Saying that a film is a great food flick isn't saying all that much, because guess what? There aren't that many! In fact, I think I've just named all the ones worth seeing. Being a lover of fine cuisine, I'm more than happy when another one comes along, so add "Mostly Martha" to the list.
As in all food films, the food is a vehicle for moving the plot along and helping it unfold. But when a film centers around a character's livelihood to which that character is dedicated, it helps to see exactly what drives that dedication. That is easy to see here. The buzz word about food flicks is that they're "sensuous," but the fact that it's a cliché doesn't make it any the less true. I didn't find my mouth watering as I did while watching "Babette" and "Eat Drink," but it did make me a little hungry. So the film is as much about the obsession of the creative artist as it is about the rather conventional plot.
In fact, the less said about the plot the better. Unless you can count the number of films you've seen on the fingers of one hand, you can probably figure out fairly early on how it will end. That really doesn't matter. The movie is about balance, something all of us need in our lives, a fact we too often forget. So it's a "chick flick." So what? "Chicks" make up over 50% of the human race, and I'll take this over some moronic testosterone-driven action film any day. 8/10
As in all food films, the food is a vehicle for moving the plot along and helping it unfold. But when a film centers around a character's livelihood to which that character is dedicated, it helps to see exactly what drives that dedication. That is easy to see here. The buzz word about food flicks is that they're "sensuous," but the fact that it's a cliché doesn't make it any the less true. I didn't find my mouth watering as I did while watching "Babette" and "Eat Drink," but it did make me a little hungry. So the film is as much about the obsession of the creative artist as it is about the rather conventional plot.
In fact, the less said about the plot the better. Unless you can count the number of films you've seen on the fingers of one hand, you can probably figure out fairly early on how it will end. That really doesn't matter. The movie is about balance, something all of us need in our lives, a fact we too often forget. So it's a "chick flick." So what? "Chicks" make up over 50% of the human race, and I'll take this over some moronic testosterone-driven action film any day. 8/10