Chef is a comedy aimed to please. It is one of those deserts that while feasting on it, may satisfy your immediate craving for sweetness, but that once digested, ultimately leaves you nauseated.
Directed, co-produced, written by, and starring Jon Favreau, Chef featurs an unnecessary line of stars, including but not limited to Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Dustin Hoffman; unnecessary because they have minor roles, but given their star power, they call too much attention to the flat characters they portray. Jon Favreau, on the other hand, is very good as the lead character. Kudos go also to John Leguizamo and young EmJay Anthony in their supporting roles.
While enjoying charm, plenty of sweet moments, as well as a nice use of current trends such as Twitter to move the story, albeit sluggishly, forward, Chef’s plot is completely predictable. The film’s failure can be compared with a review a food critic gives Chef Carl Casper earlier in the story: uninspiring and meant to impress the country club brunch crowd. Too bad filmmaker Favreua didn’t adopt his own script's concept advice, and rather than follow a formula, try something a little more daring.