42 Grams

Jake knows what he's doing. He has great ideas and makes great food in a successful restaurant. But he has SERIOUS problems articulating to his wife and employees when it's "go time". He just needs to chill the F out. Maybe practice some mediation or something. He really does have the skills, chops, and know-how, along with the creative artistic eye to present both delicious and visually satisfying food. He also seems to understand how to pair foods with different textures and flavors so that they go great together. He has clear goals in mind and seems he'll-bent on reaching them, but he's just a damn jerk to everyone that helped him get there.

This looks to be an attempt to recreate the excitement and amazement you might feel watching shows like Chef's Table and A Chef's Life. Unfortunately the featured chef, Jake Bickelhaupt, could not be more pretentious and obnoxious; this ultimately, unfortunately, ens up being the topic of the film.

I was tempted to award 2 stars but that's a different scale. I don't generally watch or enjoy documentaries but this was outstanding. My review was too short so I had to add some meaningless drivel so I had the required one hundred fifty words in my review which is harder than I first thought it would be but here I am.

I honestly don´t understand all those 10/10 reviews on such a personal and unbalanced tale of profissional success. It´s a well directed and produced business presentation and i´ve never felt any love for food and cooking or any care for the costumers. Just plenty of ego even more technique and cooking skills with a dash of bipolar behavior.

I end up giving such a low rating because i predicted the end of the documentary as soon as he mentioned the "2 stars on the first year" thing and because i found Chef Jake a very sad and nasty person that tramples over everybody else while chasing his dreams.

Not good but interesting anyway.

This is an amazing documentary that can stand confidently next to Jiro Dreams of Sushi and other greats. 80 minutes of pure movie magic. The best part of any story, as with life, is the relationships. In this story we meet a husband and wife. They work together to achieve something great. I found myself relating with them on a deep personal level. It takes an enormous amount of courage to be this honest as a filmmaker and a person. Well done.