Chef | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Jon Favreau |
Produced by |
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Written by | Jon Favreau |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Kramer Morgenthau |
Edited by | Robert Leighton |
Production
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Distributed by | Open Road Films |
Release date
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Running time
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114 minutes |
Country | United States |
Budget | $11 million |
Box office | $46 million |
Chef is a 2014 American comedy-drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Jon Favreau, and starring Favreau, Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Downey Jr. Favreau plays a professional chef who, after a public altercation with a food critic, quits his job at a popular Los Angeles restaurant and returns to his home town of Miami to fix up a food truck. He reconnects with his ex-wife and invites their young son to join him in driving the truck back to L.A. while selling Cubanos in various cities along the way.
Favreau wrote the script after directing several big-budget films, wanting to go "back to basics" and to create a film about cooking. Food truck owner and chef Roy Choi served as a co-producer and oversaw all of the menus and food prepared for the film. Principal photography took place in July 2013 in Los Angeles, Miami, Austin and New Orleans. Chef premiered at South by Southwest on March 7, 2014 and was released theatrically on May 9, 2014 by Open Road Films. It grossed over US$45 million at the box office and was well received by critics, who praised Favreau's direction and writing, as well as the film's story and the performances of its cast.
Miami-born Carl Casper is the head chef of Gauloise in Brentwood, California. While popular with his kitchen staff and hostess Molly, the restaurant owner Riva wants Carl to stick to tired "classics" rather than innovative dishes. Carl has a strained relationship with his tech-savvy preteen son Percy and rich ex-wife Inez.
When Carl has a chance to prove his creative talents during a visit from prestigious critic and blogger Ramsey Michel, Riva demands that he stick with old favorites at the last minute, causing Carl to concede, leading to a scathing review. On Twitter, Carl insults Ramsey for the review, not realizing that his reply is public, and gains a large Twitter following. Carl comes up with an inspirational new menu that his staff loves and invites Ramsey to a "rematch". After a confrontation with Riva as the owner wants the same old menu again, Carl walks out, quitting. At home, he prepares the menu he wanted to serve to Ramsey. Carl's assistant becomes the interim chef and even the regular dishes become a disaster. Ramsey again starts to tweet negatively about Carl, leading Carl to go to the restaurant, where he angrily and publicly berates Ramsey.