By Peter “Pops” Killip.
Jon Favreau’s title character tearing a strip off of a food blogger after receiving a Twitter shaped beat down is one of the numerous less than subtle highlights in Favreau’s latest indie outing. After seeing him more than hold his own with big budget properties of late, it’s good to see his willingness to strip it down and getting back-to-basics with bare bones storytelling and dialogue.
The similarities between career and character are wafer thin as we follow a former hot property chef rekindling his old flame for honest, un-flashy output and finding new priorities and relationships taking hold en-route (as stated- sledgehammer subtle).
A stellar cast, found through said studio projects bring more sizzle to the steak but can’t shake the lingering feeling of stunt casting. Get your head around the clumsy Twitter product placement and leaning towards relevance and there’s an honest-to-goodness heartwarming father/son story bubbling away under the surface.
3.5/5
