Chef review

Favs goes on an Iron-free diet

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Swapping the big-budget, high-stakes action of Iron Man for this small-scale foodie tale, Jon Favreau’s tasty indie mimics the trajectory of his latest, defiantly un-super hero. Grumpy LA chef Carl (Favreau) gets sacked from his smart restaurant for haranguing a food critic (Oliver Platt) whose review spotted that he’s lost his culinary mojo.

Favreau’s direction relishes the macho bustle of the kitchen – Carl is a culinary artist, creating a pasta dish for his waitress lover (a distracting cameo from Scarlett Johansson) with an ardent intensity that’s the closest the film gets to a sex scene. But this obsession with the tasks and textures of cooking makes Chef a slow starter dramatically.

Once Carl has sourced a food-truck, the unlikely symbol of his creative freedom, we swerve smoothly into chatty fast-food, road-movie mode. The only edge here is on Carl’s knives. Revelling in father-son grill-bonding with the neglected Percy (Emjay Anthony), and top bants with John Leguizamo’s Cubano-sandwich wizard Martin, the movie cruises along enjoyably in second gear.

Powered by Favreau’s gruff wit and ex-wife Inez’s (Sofía Vergara) mugging, it is plenty engaging. But the camera drools compulsively over New Orleans beignets or sticky Texas barbecue. This flagrant food fetish combines with the film’s fixation on Tweeting and social media montages to slow things to a crawl.

Not that we care, because Favreau’s got his groove going, especially in a deliciously deadpan joust with Robert Downey Jr.’s nervy benefactor. Chef isn’t in Swingers ’ league, but it’s a funny, charming and personal film.

Freelance Writer

Kate is a freelance film journalist and critic. Her bylines have appeared online and in print for GamesRadar, Total Film, the BFI, Sight & Sounds, and WithGuitars.com.

Latest in Horror Movies
Halloween director John Carpenter
15 years on from his last horror movie, Halloween's John Carpenter says he'd "love to direct again" – but he has one condition
Dan Stevens in supernatural horror The Ritual
The Godfather and Godzilla x Kong stars' new exorcism horror The Ritual gets a creepy first trailer
Saw X
Billy the Puppet gives Saw fans some hope on the future of the horror franchise by updating his LinkedIn profile to "employed"
Final Destination Bloodlines
Final Destination: Bloodlines drops new trailer with a first look at the return of the late Tony Todd to the horror franchise
Jack Reynor in Midsommar
Midsommar star cast in new Mummy movie, but still no word from the original stars
Kurt Russell in The Thing holding a stick of dynamite.
43 years later, John Carpenter has hinted at who turns into The Thing in the horror movie and one eagle-eyed fan has worked it out
Latest in Reviews
Image of the Corsair Virtuoso Max wireless headset sitting on top of a gaming PC case taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe.
Corsair Virtuoso Max Wireless review - a PC headset tour de force
Zombicide box featuring stylized art of survivors fighting zombies
Zombicide 2nd Edition review: "Like a zombie flick brought to tabletop"
Razer Handheld Dock with Steam Deck sitting on cradle, pink and yellow RGB lighting on, and Alienware monitor in background with Tomb Raider Trilogy gameplay on screen.
Razer Handheld Dock review: “Your Steam Deck will ride shiny and Chroma"
Photographs of the Agricola board game in play
Agricola review: "Accurate representation of the highly competitive and often unstable world of agriculture"
Photos taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe of the Shure MV7i microphone, within a pink and white themed room.
Shure MV7i review - convenience and excellence rolled into one superb sounding package
Key art for Atomfall showing a character in the English countryside looking at a nuclear plant some distance away
Atomfall review: "This isn't British Fallout – it's something much better than that"