Chef

Question. Was I dreaming or did I see a very funny comedy today? Answer. One could have knocked me over with a feather, but the answer is YES! As I've stated in previous reviews, I like the genre of comedy and with that, I've seen a plethora of them. But when so many comedies aren't really funny because you can't get through all the four-letter words, and references to lots of sex and toilet humor in order to see a decent premise or script, I am extremely leery of the next comic vehicle that comes down the road. When viewing "Chef", all I got was fine writing, directing and a great eclectic cast to really sink my teeth into.

Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant the same day that a well known L.A. food critic Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) is to critique the menu. Carl leaves after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner Riva (Dustin Hoffman) and is then left to figure out what to do next.
His ex wife Inez (Sofia Vergara) had been hinting to Carl that maybe he could run a food truck and, of course, his ego of having something so gauche would be unacceptable. Now, he's been put in a place where tough decisions have to be made, so they-- Inez, Carl and their 10 year-old son, Percy (Emjay Anthony) go to Miami where Carl actually is reduced to groveling with Inez's ex, Marvin (Robert Downey Jr.) in order to obtain a food truck. So Carl teams up with Inez, his former cook who's a friend, Martin (John Leguizamo) and Percy to launch the food truck. Taking to the road to get back to L.A., Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen-- and zest for life and love.

Others to round out the cast are Bobby Cannavale as Tony, a cook, Scarlett Johansson as Molly, the restaurant planner, Amy Sedaris as Jen, and Russell Peters as Miami Cop.

This was directed with such clarity and hilarity by Jon Favreau ("Bad Cop, Bad Cop" (TV movie) '98, "Smog" (TV movie) '99, "Made" '01, "Elf" '03, "Life on Parole" (TV movie) '03, "Zathura: A Space Adventure" '05, "Iron Man" '08, "Iron Man 2" '10, "Cowboys & Aliens" '11) plus TV. The evidence of everyone playing a pivotal role in this was amazing, and Favreau really was able to pull this off. The writing by Favreau ("Swingers" '96, "Smog" (TV movie) '99, "Made" '01, "The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest" '02, "Couples Retreat" '09) was equally polished. This was a road trip, a vehicle in which Carl could reunite his family and a film where Carl has to reinvent himself all rolled in one, and this is not easy and still have a script that is funny, and incredibly cohesive.

This is, without a doubt, the funniest comedy I have reviewed this year which isn't giving this film where credit is due. This is an independent film that probably won't be seen by as many people as would truly like this given the shoestring budget indie films run on, but if you want, and are yearning for, top notch art that is also entertaining, "Chef' serves it up on a plate. The selling slogan says it all: "Starting from scratch never tasted so good".

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                   Rated: R                               115mins.