Food Flick Looks Like Leftovers
Bradley Cooper stars as Adam Jones, a one-time wunderkind of the Paris culinary scene who lost it all in a downward, drug-induced spiral. The film catches up with him as he’s trying to make a comeback in London. If you thought you were reading the plot of book-turned-TV-series Kitchen Confidential, which Cooper also starred in, you’re not wrong; it seems strikingly similar. That said, it looks like Cooper plays the role well, and if anything, the food looks amazing. Burnt currently is playing in wide release.
JAIMIE: Is there some way I can just watch/hear the food scenes, but not anything thing else? There’s some very cliche about this sordid story about being a successful-failed-successful again chef — maybe because it’s the premise to every movie ever?
JAMES: This looks like the movie I thought Chef was going to be. Chef turned out to be a joyful love fest. A palate-friendly, feel-good movie about a father and son on a road trip. Nothing goes wrong. And in the end, everything goes better than expected. Burnt suggests the opposite. It looks like Hell’s Kitchen on film. Everything can and will go wrong.
PAIGE: I wouldn’t actually want to see this movie right away, because I’d worry that at the end (Cooper) fails, and I don’t think I could bear to pay money to see it not work out with fireworks and joy for him. This is a future Netflix movie. I mean, I don’t really care about the plot. I just want to eat him (and all the food porn) with my eyes.
NICOLE: The sounds of cooking, cutting, flames, sizzling, mixing, etc. were so wonderful. I like how they made it a background noise through out the trailer. I hope that the film focuses equally on the cooking as it does the drama.
JAMES: I also like how the cacophony of whisking, beating and mixing suggest a ticking bomb. Well, maybe that’s a bit too extreme. Maybe it’s supposed to emulate a kitchen timer. And at the ding, Padma Lakshmi walks in and says “Time’s up. Pack your knives and go.”
PAIGE: Bradley Cooper is so hot in this trailer. Look at him with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his leather jackets, throwing expensive food everywhere and being an arrogant jerk. I LOVE IT.
He actually does a lot of food shows. Wasn’t he in a food TV series before?
CHRISTINA: Yeah, he was in the (sub-par) Kitchen Confidential, which was based on Anthony Bourdain’s book and in which he played a Bourdain stand-in. This also looks like it could be based on Bourdain’s life — talented chef with a drug problem tries to redeem himself — but I don’t see that the film has any ties to Bourdain. Which is disappointing.
JAMES: Huh, I didn’t realize Cooper was a regular in the food scene. I know he’s played crazed, obsessed and disturbed characters before. But it seems kind of awkward when he’s channeling that myopia toward food.
JAIMIE: UGH, Bradley Cooper is so annoying. Also not a huge fan of Sienna Miller.
CHRISTINA: I always think that I am not a fan of Cooper, but then, I have to admit that he typically wins me over during the course of a film. I begrudgingly admit he has charm. The love story in this film looks kind of lame, though. It seems like Sienna Miller is just some Manic Pixie Dream Girl who is going to inspire Cooper to be a better person, etc. Boring.
