Have any of you seen this movie?????  OMFG!!!  You haven’t?!?!?!  You NEED TO!!!!

There might be some gushing, so, please, feel free to bring your barf bags.  And don’t worry, the review  is SPOILER-FREE.

I started this movie out wanting to punch Dustin Hoffman in the suck hole.  Well, not Dustin himself.  I love Dustin.  Dustin is the man.  His character, however, deserves an enthusiastic kick to the bean bag.

Okay, let’s rewind a bit.

Chef is a flick that the always amazing Jon Favreau wrote, starred in, and directed, the Holy Hollywood Triumvirate.  I would like to say for the record that anyone who can wear that many hats when making a frikkin movie deserves the label of ‘superhero’.  You hear that Favreau??  You’re a fucking superhero and I heart you.

Chef opens with our main character, Carl, beyond stoked about the night ahead of him.  He’s the chef at a swanky restaurant and a big, important reviewer is coming in to do his thing.  Just before the chef is about to go balls to the wall and impress the shit out of the food critic, Hoffman’s character, the owner of the restaurant, steps into the kitchen and tells him not to change the menu.  And so begins the downward spiral that leads to the movie’s tagline:

“Starting from scratch never tasted so good!”

See?  With the kicking and the bean bag???  Had he not stuck his nose in at the last minute, there would have been no starting over needed!  Oh, gawd, that made me so angry.  lol

BUT….

No starting over would have equaled no movie, so, it is what it is.  lol

Chef has a spectacular cast across the board.  I happen to be a big fangirl for a few of them – Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo (ROCKSTAR!!), Oliver Platt, and Robert Downey Jr.  I love all four of these guys soooooo much.  RDJ only does a brief cameo, but it’s so damned hilarious, he totally steals the scene.

The movie also stars Sophia Vergara.  Prior to Chef, I was not a huge fan of hers because I cant stand Modern Family.  *ducks before flying tomatoes can hit me in the face*  However, she totally won me over in this movie.  Her belief in Carl and her drive to see him be happy doing what he loves fuels a lot of the momentum in this movie.  As an audience member, I wanted more than anything to see him come out on top.  Her character was easy to identify with because you can relate to her need to see him succeed.

Overall, this movie was excellent on all levels.  The story is so sweet and at times a little heart breaking.  Favreau and everyone there on board with him knocked it WAY out of the park.  The only thing I will warn you of is make sure you have snacks handy because this movie will make you so frikkin hungry, you just might eat your remote if you find yourself ill-prepared.