Le Chef (Daniel Cohen, 2012): France

Reviewed by Angela Yago. Viewed at the Metropolitan 4 theatre, Santa Barbara.

I hadn’t done any research on Le Chef before seeing it, so I didn’t know what to expect. I could only guess it was about food, and food is my passion so I knew I would like that part. Before the movie screened the presenter mentioned it to be it to be a great movie, and now that I’ve seen it, I can definitely agree with him.The movie was surprisingly funny, I thought in the beginning that it was over the top and too much, but then after a while there was several moments where I burst into laugh.

Le Chef was screened at the Metropolitan 4 theatre in Santa Barbara, the seats were packed and everyone seemed to have a blast during the movie. The movie is directed by Daniel Cohen, and it has three main roles, the first one you may know is Jean Reno, he’s known from The Da Vinci Code. In Le Chef he plays the veteran chef Alexandre Lagarde who runs a three star restaurant. Michael Youn plays the role of Jacky Bonnot, a very talented chef who can’t keep a job because of his creative mind. Julien Boisselier plays the role of Stanislas Matter, Lagarde’s enemy who wants him to fail and lose a star so he can be replaced by a younger chef, Stanislas Matter is also the restaurants CEO.

The film starts off with showing us the first character, Jacky Bonnot. We see him getting fired from his job, and after finding out that he can’t keep a job even for a couple of weeks you build an understanding of that that has been a problem for a long time. When his pregnant girlfriend finds out that he’s been fired once again, the only way to make money is to force him to take whatever job he can get his hands on, whether it’s in the kitchen or not. He eventually finds a job as a painter at a retirement home. The next character is then presented, Alexandre Lagarde. The new spring menu is coming up and he’s having problems with what kind of dishes to put in the menu, this menu is very important for him because it decides whether he can keep the restaurant and his stars or not. While painting windows at the retirement home, Jacky comes up with the brilliant idea to help out in the kitchen, after a success at the home he continues helping the chefs. We now also find out that Jacky adores Lagarde and knows all of his recipes. Lagarde comes to the retirement home to visit the CEO Stanislas Matter’s father, and the older man forces him to taste the delicious soup Jacky made, which appears to be one of Lagarde’s old recipes. He is amazed and needs to find out who made it, “the painter” the older man says. Lagarde finds Jacky and an internship is offered, this is something Jacky can’t deny, even if he doesn’t make money out of it. He knows his girlfriend would be pretty mad at him if he told her, she would absolutely not approve so he decides to keep it a secret so that everyone can be happy. The internship turns into a big adventure for him and Lagarde and there are many bumps and laughs along the way.

It’s a great movie with great and hilarious actors, and it’s also a lot different from American comedies, there’s different types of humor and the language is just so beautiful to listen to that I didn’t want to read the subtitles. When watching this you really build up an interest and understanding for the talented and creative chef, you feel for the guy when something good or bad happens. That same interest also builds up for the whole film overall. It’s just such an energetic and funny movie that I think many would love.

Since I’m a food and comedy lover, Le Chef suited perfectly for me. The fact that I’ve been to France before and is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to, made it just so much better. I highly recommend this movie to people at any age, you’ll fall in love with the atmosphere and you’ll definitely laugh your socks off.