The Food Guide to Love

Oliver (Richard Coyle) in The Food Guide to Love is the ultimate foodie and food writer. As a kid, while others were cheering on their sports team, he was enjoying the tapas and fine cuisine at the snack table. He becomes a run away success in the way he describes the sensual aspect of food but has had a hard time translating that erotic magnetism into his relationships. After 6 months they burn out and he moves on to his next course. All is well until he comes across a hot fire Spanaird in Bibiana. She is an activist with a father's complex that sees through Oliver's frivolous ways. A foreign film that celebrates the joys of life and teaches us that along the way we much enjoy the banquet of life's joys. I believe this is a great film for anyone that wants to watch a good story.

Just saw it at the Dublin Film Festival and, to be honest, wasn't very impressed. It was shown in the Irish category so I thought it would be one of those Irish films that are usually low-budget but personal, fresh and original. This one was none of that. It would be more in line with Hugh Grant's romcoms. I mean it's nice to watch with your missus, plenty of jokes thrown in, but it's more "one of those films" than "must not miss". I am not sure if it qualifies for a "Dublin film" either. You need to be Irish or at least someone with deep love for Dublin to make a truly "Dublin film". Here, the director/writers are not Irish and hardly been to Ireland before the film. They were just told (according to Q&A session) that Ireland is a cheaper place to film in, so they hired an Irish writer, changed the background to Dublin, and voilà - got an Irish film. Kind of cynical. So it's more "filmed in Dublin". Although the location crew did make a decent job of trying to avoid the usual clichés. So at least, you'll get some nice shots of the modern Dublin.

Oliver (Richard Coyle) is a well-known food journalist from Dublin who is in the midst of a love crisis. Despite his successful newspaper column on good food, his love life is a disaster: all his relationships end in failure. But he is also terrified of commitments. When his last girlfriend leaves him, he meets Bibiana (Leonor Watling) , a Spanish art curator to whom Oliver feels attached from the first moment, despite the fact that they have nothing in common.

Typical romantic comedy about a peculiar couple with contrasting characters, exploring a complex relationship from which sparks sometimes fly. But they're very different people, she like good causes, he likes good food. While she is bold in love and throws herself headlong into impossible relationships, he does not want any kind of ties and likes absolute freedom. Thing go wrong when one day Bibiana discovered Oliver betrayed her with another woman and she left him immediately. To save such dying love affair Oliver determined to change himself so as to win her back.

¨The Food Guide to Love¨is a stylish and agreeable comedy seasoned with diverting scenes , alluring mess , confusion , entertainment and professionally directed by Dominic Harari, Teresa Pelegri . This is a Romance/comedy movie ; the picture develops a special story about a peculiar couple and the twisted relationship among them , filled with lasting images , delightful performances , sense of style and slow moving, but there is nothing special about it . Resulting to be a passable movie , though slightly monotonous due to be really limited to a few characters and a simple story with various sub plots that keep the mistakes in life coming back to what many might feel is destiny for what it should be at some point. Regular and unbalanced , but gaining the sympathy almost at all times . It is an amusing picture dealing with couple relationships , jealousy , loving conflicts and many other things . This is a charming and warming comedy with a lot of incidents in which each time more dangerously out of control , including attractant love stories in which there are twisted messes , as well as the ordinary comedian clichés . Colorful story of loves and jealousy in which predominates amiable , attracting main roles who become embroiled in multiple messes , being played by a good cast: Richard Coyle and Leonor Watling , with brief and fine interpretations from secondary actors as Ginés Garcia Millán, Ciara Bailey, Michelle Beamish, Lorcan Cranitch, Simon Delaney, Zena Donnelly , among others .

The picture has an appropriate cinematography by Andreu Rébes, a prestigious cameraman who has photographed popular films such El favor , Historias para no contar, Sentimental , Félix, and Truman . The motion picture was uneven but professionally written and directed by Dominic Harari and Teresa Pelegri and it leaves that to the viewer's opinion at the end which I feel is an obvious but unanticipated conclusion. Dominic Harari and Teresa Pelegri are good writers and filmmakers such as ¨Sin Vergüenza¨, ¨Unconscious¨ and ¨Amor En Su Punto¨, among others . Rating : acceptable and passable . This movie will never be a classic but it is quite fun .