My wife and I went to this movie because its IMDb rating (7.9 as of 2014-05-26) was higher than the ratings of the other two movies we were considering. I cannot tell a lie: my wife liked it. I was dismayed (by the flick, not her opinion of it).
First, the good things: Robert Downey Jr. does a terrific job of sketching a character of eccentric loathsomeness with the 5 minutes he has on screen. Scarlett Johansson is always fascinating, although she vanishes from the movie about a third of the way through. Oliver Platt has some nice moments. Emjay Anthony as the kid is quite solid. (Why do boys in movies always have long hair? Is it to make them look younger than they are? But not this time; I think Anthony is 11, playing a 10-year-old.) Sofia Vergara is charming, and pretty if you like busty women (which I don't).
The bad things: Dustin Hoffman is wasted playing a key character whose actions are so irrational he should wear a sign around his neck saying "Plot device."
Come to think of it, everybody in the movie is wasted. The plot is full of holes big enough to drive a food truck through. There are no plausible conflicts in the movie, and even most of the implausible ones are resolved by everybody deciding to be nice.
Early in the movie the chef, played by director Jon Favreau, is told by his ex-wife, played by Sofia Vergara, that he would be happier driving a food truck than being chef of a classy L.A. restaurant. I thought her suggestion was to establish that she was somewhat ditsy; what self-respecting chef would want to drive a food truck? She turns out not to be ditsy at all; she has some sort of career that makes her more prosperous than her ex, although I couldn't figure out what that career was. The food truck materializes, the music gets more Latin, and the movie becomes a father-son-bonding road trip. Then the fairy godmother appears, waves her magic wand, and all problems are solved.
It's somewhat strange that people love to watch other people cook, while cooking less and less themselves. My advice is to stay home and make yourself a cubano sandwich; it'll fill you up more than watching Jon Favreau make a few thousand of them.
First, the good things: Robert Downey Jr. does a terrific job of sketching a character of eccentric loathsomeness with the 5 minutes he has on screen. Scarlett Johansson is always fascinating, although she vanishes from the movie about a third of the way through. Oliver Platt has some nice moments. Emjay Anthony as the kid is quite solid. (Why do boys in movies always have long hair? Is it to make them look younger than they are? But not this time; I think Anthony is 11, playing a 10-year-old.) Sofia Vergara is charming, and pretty if you like busty women (which I don't).
The bad things: Dustin Hoffman is wasted playing a key character whose actions are so irrational he should wear a sign around his neck saying "Plot device."
Come to think of it, everybody in the movie is wasted. The plot is full of holes big enough to drive a food truck through. There are no plausible conflicts in the movie, and even most of the implausible ones are resolved by everybody deciding to be nice.
Early in the movie the chef, played by director Jon Favreau, is told by his ex-wife, played by Sofia Vergara, that he would be happier driving a food truck than being chef of a classy L.A. restaurant. I thought her suggestion was to establish that she was somewhat ditsy; what self-respecting chef would want to drive a food truck? She turns out not to be ditsy at all; she has some sort of career that makes her more prosperous than her ex, although I couldn't figure out what that career was. The food truck materializes, the music gets more Latin, and the movie becomes a father-son-bonding road trip. Then the fairy godmother appears, waves her magic wand, and all problems are solved.
It's somewhat strange that people love to watch other people cook, while cooking less and less themselves. My advice is to stay home and make yourself a cubano sandwich; it'll fill you up more than watching Jon Favreau make a few thousand of them.