Review: Jon Favreau's CHEF is My Favorite Film of the Year
There were so many things about Chef that I could personally relate too that it connected with me in a way that I haven't haven't felt with any movie in a very, very long time. No joke, there were elements in the story that very closely mirrored things that I have gone through in my personal life. It was really quite incredible. I loved this movie, and I believe it's one of the best movies that I've seen this year. It's also one of the best movies that director Jon Favreau has made.
I may not be a professional chef, but I do really enjoy cooking. I find cooking very relaxing, and I also just love to eat food in general. I'm always up for trying new and different things. This was a perfect setting for the story, and I have a deep appreciation for how this world of cooking was portrayed in the story. This is one of the many reasons why I loved this movie, but it's not the reason why I connected to it.
Chef tells the inspirational story of a man named Carl Casper, who has a passion for cooking, and how he picks himself back up and rebuilds his life after a series of unfortunate events leads him to quitting his job at a popular restaurant. With the help of his son, his ex wife, and his friends, he starts up his own business with a food truck. There he makes the kind of food that he wants to make, and he finds the ultimate happiness in doing it, and in the process strengthens his relationship with his son and the friends in his life.
Before I started GeekTyrant with my friend, I moved from job to job working for other people, doing things for those people that they wanted me to do, and I didn't have the freedom to do the things the way I thought they should be done. It seemed like people never listened, and they just wanted to keep doing the same things, there was no innovation, no one wanting to listen to new good ideas. They were set in their ways, and it was frustrating as hell.
After a series of my own unfortunate events in life, I now find myself in a place were I can do what I want. I own and run my own business, I work my ass off doing it, and spend an average of 15 hours a day working on it. But, you know what? I freakin' love what I do; I'm passionate about it; we have a solid team; and I'm my own boss. I may not be a chef, but I have my own set of talents that I love to use and strengthen.
Like any business things started out slow, but in the same way Twitter played a huge part in Chef and how Favreau's character grew his business, we were able to grow our business in the same way. Twitter was a huge reason why GeekTyrant blew up as fast as it did when we first launched. I quickly learned a lot about the value of social networking. It's now a huge part of the success of any business.
Then there's the whole family relationship part of the story. I honestly can't believe how close to home that this part of the film hit for me. This aspect of the movie was extremely emotional for me and the way it played out had me in tears, because it's almost exactly how things are currently playing out in my personal life. No joke, as I sit here thinking about this movie, and writing this review I still can't help but be moved by it.
The movie also had a amazing group of actors to help bring this story to life. It also starred Bobby Cannavale, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt, and Sofia Vergara — all of whom were incredible in the small roles that they played. Then there was John Leguizamo, who was awesome, and it was great to see him in a meaty role like this. It seems like it has been a long time seen I've seen him in a really good role. As for the kid that played Favreau's son in the story, Emjay Anthony, he's a fantastic young actor that has a bright future ahead of him. Then of course Favreau in the lead role was perfection. The guy is not only a great director, but can act like a champ as well.
Watching Chef was truly an incredible experience for me. It's like a sat there watching parts of my own life play out on the big screen. I just want to thank Jon Favreau from the bottom of my heart for telling this story. This is a movie that needed to be made. It has been a long time since I've seen a movie that affected me in a way that this one did. It was incredibly uplifting and I left the theater swelling with encouragement. Sometimes unexpected, discouraging things happen in life, but that doesn't mean you can't be happy and life can't be awesome.
Chef was amazing. It's not a big budget superhero or sci-fi movie, but it's easily my favorite movie of the year so far. I strongly recommend that you go see it when you get a chance. In fact, you should make an effort to go out of your way to see this movie.