**Spoiler Alert!!!**

Last night I went to the preview showing of Chef. Truthfully I hadn’t heard anything about the film prior to the screening, so I was a bit worried as to whether or not it would be worth watching. However, I was pleasantly surprised!

The story follows Carl Casper (Jon Favreau), a well renowned chef whose artistic flair and family life have deteriorated in to a pile of mush. Wanting to impress a famous food critic played by Oliver Platt, restaurant owner Riva (Dustan Hoffman) pushes Chef Casper to “play his hits.” However, the classic signature dishes that made Casper famous in the first place didn’t sit well with the food critic. After an explosive outburst that went viral online at the critic, Casper leaves his job and sets out to rebuild himself and his family.

Through the persuasion of his ex-wife Inez (Sofía Vergara), Casper goes with her and their son to Miami. There he speaks with Inez’s ex-husband, Marvin, played by Robert Downey Jr., for an old food truck to jump start his creativity and cook just for the love of it. Honestly, Robert Downey Jr’s scene was by far the most bizarre and awkward part in the movie, but it was great for comedy relief and probably one of my favorite scenes.

After Casper fixed up the food truck with his son Percy (Emjay Anthony), his former line cook Martin (John Leguizamo) joins the guys on a trip from Miami to back home to Los Angeles. Along the way Casper’s food truck business gains a lot of followers thanks to his son’s tech savvy know-how and social media expertise. By the end of the trip Casper and his son rekindle their relationship through the love of cooking. Admittedly a few lumps were stuck in my throat by this point. I won’t spoil the ending, but let’s just say it’s a happy one.

One thing I liked about this film was its use of music–Latin jazz, New Orleans jazz and blues. I’ve always had a thing for Latin jazz mostly because of its vibrant energy. And of course, all the beauty shots of food… you can’t go wrong with that!

Overall, Chef left me feeling satisfied even though I was starving because I hadn’t eaten any dinner before the movie started. All the food looked really delicious! On my Cripsy scale of 1 to 5, I’d have to give Chef a solid, crunchy 4. I think it’s something the audience could really sink their teeth into and enjoy. I know I did!