Chef (2014)

Funny and heartwarming, writer-director John Favreau’s independent feature, “Chef,” is just as much about cultivating a self-owned business in a jaded generation as the complexities in the bond between a father and a son. Chef Carl Caspar (also played by Favreau) works at a popular restaurant run by Riva (Dustin Hoffman,) and bussed by a mostly Latino staff. Despite his success, Carl feels stifled by the conventional feel of the recipes Riva instructs him to cook, and wants to get a little crazy creating more experimental, exotic food.

Caspar is despondent when a wildly popular food critic, Ramsay Michel (an obvious take on “Hell’s Kitchen”‘s Gordon Ramsay,) played by Oliver Platt, writes a disparaging review of his food. Carl gets into a fight online with Ramsay, which leads to the miscalculated moment when Carl bursts in on him at the restaurant and goes off on him, finally losing him his job and making him an internet sensation (someone just HAD to videotape, didn’t they?)

Carl is so caught up in his concerns at work that he doesn’t have much time for his young son, Percy (Emjay Anthony.) His ex, Inez (“Modern Family’s” Sofia Vergara) chides him in that gently condescending way when he continually fails to spend the day with Percy, but Carl just can’t seem to get his crap together. In the wake of his unemployment, Carl reluctantly starts a food truck, and his son’s involvement with the cooking and upkeep bring them closer together.

Chef Carl Caspar can be hot-tempered, and be a big child. The difference between his immaturity and that of a Will Ferrell or Seth Rogan character is that Caspar’s lack of an adult attitude is grounded in reality, Caspar makes a attempt to work on his behavior, and that he remains likable throughout his emotional hiccups and meltdowns, John Favreau is obviously invested in this character, so we are too.

I like that this film has several thematic threads- the love of food as an art form, the transformation of distant to devoted dad, and making sense of modern sensibilities and technology through the eyes of a guys who’s somewhat clues in that field. Putting family before your career- this is certainly nothing plot-wise, but somehow “Chef” manages to make the time-worn theme of a distracted dad and kiddo bonding over a shared interest (or simply forging an interest in each other) more appealing.

People watching this movie for actors Robert Downey, Jr. or Scarlett Johansson be disappointed- their roles are fairly small. But even they may be won over by the film’s big heart and accompanying lack of misty-eyed sentimentality. Emjay Anthony gives a promising first performance as Percy, Carl’s bright and technologically savvy son. You don’t have to be a food fanatic (though, really, who doesn’t like food?) to appreciate the feeling behind this movie.

Movie 43 (2013)

Though hardly a consistently funny film, “Movie 43” is, astonishingly, not a complete and utter miss. It is a hit-and-miss spectacle around the lines of 2013’s “The ABCs of Death,” with a comedy rather than horror theme. At it’s worst, it’s still a lot better than the worst “ABCs of Death” had to offer.

The plot is loosely and crudely constructed, with an emphasis on ‘crude.’ The jokes consistently base themselves on shock value and poor taste, with sometimes funny results. This is an anthology film, and the segments all base themselves around this premise- wimpy schmuck Griffin (Greg Kinnear) listens as obsessed screenwriter Charlie (Dennis Quaid) pitches a script to him- a tasteless opus that Griffin quickly dismisses. Undeterred, Charlie holds Griffin at gunpoint and tries to force him to sell the script. The following shenanigans are the contents of this screenplay.

The first segment, “The Catch,” is actually pretty funny as Kate Winslet tries to figure out why no one seems to notice the giant ballsack hanging from her date Hugh Jackman’s neck. Don’t judge me, I laughed. The second one was pretty funny in an ‘ashamed of yourself but laughing’ way, it actually plays on the stereotypes about homeschoolers, as a homeschooled young person I appreciated that.

The only other really funny short in this collection is the grossly inappropriate iBabe. The others range from pretty mediocre to pretty bad. The one with Chloe Grace Moretz, a talented young actress, is just embarrassing and awkward as a teenage girl is humiliated by her inopportunely timed first period and the incompetence of her male audience. The one with Anna Faris was gross and pointless, and is only funny if you like poop jokes and third rate sitcom humor.

Some of the shorts were mesmerizing in their strange tastelessness, “Beezel,” with it’s homosexual cat jacking off to pictures of his owner in swimtrunks, is a startling example. I didn’t find the short about the black basketball players particularly racist, but I didn’t find it funny either.

“Movie 43” doesn’t really utilize it’s all-star cast, but you could do worse for a late-rainy-day distraction. If you get to watch it free, and want to laugh a few times and think ‘hmm, that’s strange,’ then go for it. It’s not the abomination people have made it out to be, but it’s no classic comedy. Just remember to think for yourself!
                                

The Station Agent (2003)

Pensive and deliberately slow-paced, “The Station Agent” was a movie that definitely improved for me upon another viewing. It was the movie that brought Peter Dinklage into the spotlight before “Game of Thrones” made him a star. Dinklage is a dwarf, so it will come as no surprise to you that good roles are hard for him to come by regardless of what a good actor he may be (and is.) Compared to his more disposable roles like “Elf” and “Underdog,” “The Station Agent” stands as a surprisingly good indie film, and Dinklage, as well as his co-stars Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Cannavale, give the project all they’ve got.

Gut-wrenching ableism is alive and well in the people who surround Fin (Dinklage,) a reserved young dwarf whose equally hard to read friend and fellow train enthusiast Henry (Paul Benjamin) dies suddenly, leaving him property in a middle-of-nowhere New Jersey town. Fin, who is subject to constant prejudice from ignorant a-holes, just wants to be left alone, but bereaved mom Olivia (Clarkson) and loquacious Cuban-American hot dog vendor Joe (Cannavale) try and begin to succeed to draw him out of his shell (but only after Olivia almost carelessly runs Fin over with her car- twice(!)

“The Station Agent” is almost as low-key as it’s protagonist and doesn’t resort to cheap sentimentality or maudlin counter-stereotyping of the disabled to make it’s point. Michelle Williams, who has always been good at straddling both indie and big-budget productions, is featured as a lonely librarian who flirts with Fin, much to his befuddlement. Fin is not a martyr or a bafflingly quirky little person with a heart of gold. Fin himself says it best “It’s funny how people see me and treat me, since I’m really just a simple, boring person.” Many people are astonishingly nasty to him, either out of cruelty or ignorance, and he’s learned to build up walls and avoid getting hurt.

“The Station Agent” is tender and funny without exploiting the foibles of it’s characters. The movie is best suited for people who have reasonable attention spans, as it is sometimes painfully slow, but the sharp and bright-eyed observations of it’s characters make it worth the watch. It’s a great showcase for the talents of both Patricia Clarkson and Peter Dinklage, BEFORE he was ‘Half-Man’ Tyrion Lannister. I also feel that the later film “An Insignificant Harvey” ripped this off to some extent. People who love subdued indie movies will like this a lot. It’s slight yet affecting, and touches the viewer’s hearts without using implausible melodrama or deceit to get it’s way.