STARTING FROM SCRATCH NEVER TASTED SO GOOD.
After a public meltdown involving Twitter and a hostile food critic, California chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) decides to start over in Miami – with a food truck. The Iron Man movies made the director rich and famous, but this low-budget comedy is more satisfying, as we follow the chef’s struggle to take his cuisine to the streets, but also to build a real connection with his young son. Simple, but fun and very charming, with appealing performances (especially by Favreau himself as the passionate but tech-challenged Casper) and locations – as well as mouthwatering shots of dishes that were specifically designed by chef Roy Choi (who shows up in the closing credits).
2014-U.S. 115 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Jon Favreau, Sergei Bespalov, Karen Gilchrist. Written and directed by Jon Favreau. Cast: Jon Favreau (Carl Casper), Sofia Vergara (Inez), John Leguizamo (Martin), Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey, Jr… Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Amy Sedaris.
Last word: “It turns out that it was the right thing for me. It was the best experience I can ever remember having of making a movie. It just felt really good to see that I can still do that. I didn’t know. I haven’t done that in a long time. To be able to act and make a movie where I got to have the final say in how I shot it, where I shot it, who’s in it, what the script is, what the edit is, and not to be part of a committee, but to be a lone voice on a much smaller canvas, was potentially scary.” (Favreau, Vulture)
