Alex (Richard E. Grant) is a middle aged crazy professor. He longs for a simpler time. When he was in college, he staged a play in a remote English village and he wants to do so again. He manages to convince all of his former friends to give it a whirl. The production has multiple problems from the get-go and it is not a certainty that Alex's dream will succeed. What is more certain is that love may happen between members of the cast who meet again during rehearsals. Does this include Alex, too? Grant is a wonderful actor. One only has to see Jack and Sarah or A Merry War to appreciate his talents. He works very hard to make this film a success but the script is a meandering mess which seems pointless, at times. The other actors are all likable and the setting and costumes are likewise lovely, however. If you have any desire to see Grant at work, a bunch of beautiful scenery, and a couple of secondary love stories, then this film might tempt you for an evening. But, most folks will find it quite a boring outing, unfortunately.
3 Reviews
One of the worst British films I have ever seen.
tigon1 September 2000
In recent years there has been a lot of press coverage regarding appalling feature films which have been funded by the National Lottery in the UK. Dozens of movies, made only because they have been supported by lottery grants, have flopped spectacularly at the British box office. Writer-director Steven Poliakoff's 'Food of Love' is one such film. It displays all that is wrong with the British movie industry. Why was such a boring, badly scripted, uncommercial film like this EVER financed? It's almost like Film Four wanted to make produce an uninteresting, unprofitable, unfunny movie. Well, they certainly succeeded.
'Food of Love' is chock-a-block full of mawkish dialogue, poor characterisation and tiresome acting mixed with an implausible storyline. It is nothing short of appalling. The normally brilliant Richard E. Grant is annoying and far too self-aware of his sub-standard performance; veteran actress Sylvia Sims is totally wasted and the rest of the cast are abysmal. None of the characters have any sort of real motivation for how they behave. At one point, one member of the cast buries his personal computer in a field (for no reason at all), then later regrets what he's done! It makes no sense.
The film's finale is awful, but it comes as a blessed relief. I would challenge anyone to actually enjoy this movie. It's just dull, self-indulgent, middle-class pretentious clap-trap and Poliakoff should be ashamed of himself.
'Food of Love' is chock-a-block full of mawkish dialogue, poor characterisation and tiresome acting mixed with an implausible storyline. It is nothing short of appalling. The normally brilliant Richard E. Grant is annoying and far too self-aware of his sub-standard performance; veteran actress Sylvia Sims is totally wasted and the rest of the cast are abysmal. None of the characters have any sort of real motivation for how they behave. At one point, one member of the cast buries his personal computer in a field (for no reason at all), then later regrets what he's done! It makes no sense.
The film's finale is awful, but it comes as a blessed relief. I would challenge anyone to actually enjoy this movie. It's just dull, self-indulgent, middle-class pretentious clap-trap and Poliakoff should be ashamed of himself.
Not a real Poliakoff, nothing to see here
jamesdazes19 February 2006
As I understand it he altered his initial idea for this film for commercial and lottery-funding reasons with an unsuccessful end result. If you want to see some of Poliakoff's proper works, check out "ShootingThe Past", "The Lost Prince", "Perfect Strangers", "Caught on a Train" ,"Gideon's Daughter", "She's Been Away", and "Hidden City".
The plot concerns the staging of a play in an English village, and a reunion of its original cast by a London professional who decides to return there having made a success of his career , and the production includes Sylvia Syms, Richard E. Grant, Nathalie Baye and Paul McGann and Juliet Aubrey.
The plot concerns the staging of a play in an English village, and a reunion of its original cast by a London professional who decides to return there having made a success of his career , and the production includes Sylvia Syms, Richard E. Grant, Nathalie Baye and Paul McGann and Juliet Aubrey.
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