Burnt, If You Can’t Take The Heat…

Another freed up evening is what resulted in me going on a mid-week jaunt to the movies. After watching the trailer for Burnt, and then checking out the website (stunningly gorgeous visually and has cast/director info plus recipes!) I was sold and got dressed and drove to the movies (it helps that I only live five minutes away).

If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen was pretty much the message of this film. A story of redemption in the culinary world, Burnt was full of food porn from start to finish. Bradley Cooper plays Adam Jones, a phenomenal two star Michelin chef who bombed out in Paris due to drugs and drama.

After taking a hiatus in the US, Jones is back in Europe to earn his third Michelin star. With drug dealers from his past to contend with, and the entire culinary world waiting on him to have another misstep, there is a lot of pressure to succeed on his part. Adam hand-picks his team and manages to start up his restaurant, Adam Jones at The Langham, and after a rocky start they are able to find their footing and make a name for themself.

Source: Burnt Facebook Page 

It’s almost impossible to think of this film and not want food, I even had to take a break while writing this post to go an make something (toast, guava jam, and jalapeño cheese), nothing that compares to Adam Jones’ menu, but good enough for me. The film plot isn’t really anything we haven’t heard before, prodigal son meets burnt out rockstar redemption tale, but even so the tale was well told.

When a supposed visit from the Michelin judges results in disaster thanks to a revenge ploy by one of Adam’s most trusted team members, he thinks it’s all over and gets wasted and is nursed back to sanity by his chief rival, Chef Montgomery Reece (played by Matthew Rhys), a frenemy from Adam’s days in Paris. Upon finding out that the Michelin judges weren’t in London that night, much less The Langham, Adam is restored and goes back to doing what he does best, preparing good food. And when the judges actually do turn up (anonymously of course) they are more than ready to please their palate.

Source: Burnt Facebook Page

Along the way, there is the romantic sideline between Adam and one of his team members, Helene Sweeney, played by Sienna Miller. A predictable direction I was hoping the directors wouldn’t have gone, leaving the film to be just about the food. Their relationship doesn’t quite develop fully by the end of the film and so it wasn’t too bad.

Source: Burnt Facebook Page

The film ends without stating conclusively that Adam Jones won his third Michelin star, but I think it’s pretty likely that he did, we see him smiling and finally becoming part of the foodie family that was there with him all along. A couple things I really liked about this film were that it was called Burnt and not the American past tense, Burned; the food shots (absolutely lovely visuals); and the happy ending.

I’m a sucker for a happy ending and this was one, win or lose.

Anne Hathaway & Robert De Niro, A Great Fit in The Intern

Before getting into the meat of the matter with this review I should probably include the disclaimer that I just love going to the movies. Even with bad movies (not that this was one) I still enjoy the experience. The hush of the theatre, the clichéd traditional opening music, the gross red seating that millions of others have sat on, all part and parcel of the movie going experience for me.

A few weeks ago I went and watched The Intern, it wasn’t planned, I just happened to wonder what was showing and then looked at Palace Amusement’s schedule and found this there. I was actually waiting on a dance rehearsal to start, so I didn’t plan on having any time to even go. But when I realised that rehearsals would’ve been over by 8:45pm I said lemme go!

What really caught me was how this film juxtaposed Anne Hathaway’s role as Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada. Anne as lowly intern to big name actress Meryl Streep, while in The Intern, Anne Hathaway plays Jules Ostin, CEO of About the Fit who hires as her intern Ben Whitaker, played by Robert De Niro.

Jules started an online fashion company, About the Fit, in her kitchen, and within 18 months it grew into a company hiring 220 employees. With her meticulous nature and hands on approach it’s clear why the company is a success, however this has meant her having to make some tough choices in picking between her family and her business. Her husband Matt opted to leave his own successful career to become a stay-at-home father to their young daughter Paige and unlike the other mothers Jules is unable to go to the school functions and birthday parties with Paige. On a deeper level this looks at the question of “can women really have it all?” but doesn’t provide any answers (which it isn’t supposed to).

Source: The Intern Movie Facebook Page

As part of their community outreach, About the Fit starts a senior citizen internship programme and this is where Ben comes in. Bored with retirement, he applies and so impresses everyone that not only is he successful in his application but is selected as Jules’ personal intern. Not interested in having an intern, Jules pretty much ignores him at first, but slowly he works his way into her good graces, first by clearing up the office junk table, and then as a good driver when he spies her personal driver drinking on the job.

They strike up an interesting relationship, one of a father/daughter mentor/mentee nature and together they come across well on screen. Ben, like any good father gives advice with the experience of age, and Jules’, like any wayward daughter refuses him at first. We see where she begins to trust him when she listens to his advice on issues like hiring a CEO for About the Fit (so she can spend more time with her family), and the problem of Matt’s cheating.

Source: The Intern Movie Facebook Page

For me I think involving Jules’ mother in the film was unnecessary and underdeveloped. We see their dysfunctional relationship, culminating with Jules inadvertently sending her mother an email where she vented about how awful her mother was (Ben and his gang at the office saved the day by breaking into the mother’s house and deleting the email from her computer) but there is no reconciliation, which begs the question of why bring it up in the first place.

I keep describing this film to people as a “feel-good movie”, pleasant, enjoyable, easy on the eyes, with dynamic character interaction throughout – a great film for anyone to watch! Plus, the set design was superb and Jules’ wardrobe envy-inspiring.