News location:

Canberra Today 25°/29° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Review: ‘Le Chef’ (M) ??

JACKY (Michael Youn) loves to cook but can’t hold a job at fast food places where he tries to lift the standard.

He has worshipped at the altar of Alexandre (Jean Reno), whose three-star restaurant Lagarde on a prime Paris location is part of an international restaurant chain run by the Matter family whose CEO tells Alexandre that the critics are coming to review him and he will get the boot if they remove a single toque from his rating.

Writer/director Daniel Cohen’s satire of the foodie ethos hangs from that dramatic thread. That’s no bad concept, given that objective evaluation by the media of such an ephemera has an unreliable and easily-corruptible base. Cohen sets up an uncomfortable relationship between Jacky and Alexandre who each have an overweening notion of their abilities. Jacky’s pregnant partner has told him to get a permanent job or she’ll leave him. Alexandre has been neglecting his daughter who’s about to face the assessors for her PhD thesis.

All this hurtles along at a good pace. Not all of its potshots at restaurant shibboleths hit the mark. The best happens when the markets refuse to supply Lagarde until it pays its bills and Jacky leads his crew into the neighbourhood corner store to stock up.

Alas, this ill-written variation of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” lacks coherence and credibility. I wanted to admire it more than I found myself able.

 

At Greater Union and Dendy

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Dougal Macdonald

Dougal Macdonald

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Music

Cunio takes top job at NZ School of Music

Immediate past head of the ANU School of Music, Kim Cunio, is to become head of school at Te Kōki, the NZ School of Music, part of the Victoria University of Wellington, reports HELEN MUSA.

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews