Several years ago, I ran into a local restaurateur at a large chain bookstore, where I’d gathered an armful of British food magazines, known for their great food photography. He inspected my cargo and grinned. “Food porn,” he said approvingly.
“Burnt” is just that, food porn. It’s the story of an American chef who spectacularly flamed out in Paris with the help of various chemical substances, both legal and otherwise, and decides to mount a comeback after achieving sobriety in New Orleans, of all places. (Probably better than, say, Las Vegas, but still….) He heads for London, where some of the guys – and it’s all guys – he knew are working. It’s not quite “Ocean’s 11”, with the old gang getting together for one last glorious heist, but there’s a similar feeling to it, especially early on as he gathers the crew. It’s go big or go home, three Michelin stars or bust.
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Bradley Cooper is the chef, a driven perfectionist. There are arguments over his “old style” – read 1990’s – food. The sole woman in the crew, Sienna Miller (above), whom he stole from his rival, actually has to teach him about sous vide, the low-temperature immersive cooking method, even bringing in equipment for it.
Visually, it’s a feast. Yes, the food is splendid-looking. Chef spends a lot of time at the pass, doing the final plating of his perfect food, so we see sauces dripped on and garnish tilted just so, with affectionate angles from the camera. Ganache being poured on a cake and oozing over the sides is particularly sensuous. (Marcus Wareing, a big-name British chef, and Mario Batali consulted on the film and coached the actors on technique.) Episodes with street food are fun but unfortunately there’s far less focus on that low-budget chow.
London looks wonderful, mostly modern London, not much of the Houses of Parliament but lots of views of the skyline with The Shard, the oddly-shaped office building, and the London Eye. One early scene in a restaurant is filmed in the Delaunay, a lovely and very good spot near the West End theaters. The odd man out in the scenery is the restaurant of Cooper’s rival, played by Matthew Rhys, which has all the charm of a monochromatic school lunchroom.
Some excellent casting in this film, Emma Thompson as a psychoanalyst and Uma Thurman a food critic, as well as larger roles for Daniel Bruhl as the maitre d’, whose father owns the hotel, and Lexi Benbow-Hart as Miller’s daughter. The faces alone of the kitchen crew are fascinating. Some funny lines are welcome, but too often the accents blur things.
A stronger and less-expected story arc might have made this a truly outstanding film for this autumn. But for the foodish hearts like us, it’s worthwhile.
Burnt opens today in metro St. Louis.
