The Hundred-Foot Journey

This movie is well-constructed, beautifully filmed, and rich in diversity. The story is poignant and heartwarming. Its a wonderful movie especially if you enjoy cooking movies. The critic in our local newspaper gave the film two stars out of 5, saying it was slow and too schmaltzy. A bit schmaltzy maybe, but who doesn't like a good love story centered around food. The characters were perfect and seeing Charlotte Le Bon for the first time was breathtaking. Helen Mirren was her normal fabulous self. the Indian cast was excellent. Besides Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey do not invest or make 2 star movies. We plan to see this movie again since the writing was so good we may have missed something.

The only thing which bothered me a little bit about this movie was that the restaurant owner of a French restaurant somewhere in the countryside is played by an English actress. And I love Helen Mirren. There are some weird language situations which do not make sense. Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed this little comedy about two of my favorite foods. I could not decide on which side of the street I wanted to eat.

As a senior citizen myself I am always happy when a movie is carried by people my age. And boy do Helen Mirren and Om Puri carry this movie. If you want to spend pleasant two hours in the company of entertaining people and pictures of delicious food, you will have a good time seeing this movie.

I do know the adapted book. But the film is obvious a delight. Sure, the temptation of critic is not small but the basic virtue of film is to be lovely. Not convincing, not complex. Just lovely. And it has few atu who are more than significant, from the performances to the flavors escaping from screen. It has, in same measure , a seductive "spice" - the meet between Hellen Mirren and Om Puri. Short, it represents a real delight. The photography is one of proofs.

It's a well made movie. It really brings that warm romantic flair that fits the movie. But the dialogs and characters are quite uninspiring and the story line is quite predictable. It's all laid on too thick in terms of romantic, fuzzy, warm feeling and it's overloaded with clichés. There's no subtlety or layers in the characters and their dialogues. Which really is a shame, because the potential was there to be a great movie. Also I felt that Hassan had trouble carrying the movie. Yes he has puppy eyes, but his acting was quite mediocre.

So all in all it sound like a lot of critique, but it's only because the rest was so well done it deserved more. It's just that very simple but warm and cosy romantic movie for on a lazy Sunday but it just lacks any complexity to be more than that. So, just a 6.5 which on imdb. I'll go for 7 then, because after a few 'oh yeah, really?' cliché annoyances it somewhere halfway did bring me to France and their situation. It's enough to give me a warm and somewhat satisfying feeling.

This movie is filled with the joys and sorrows that accompany a full life. The acting is excellent. I could not fault a single actor. Even those delivering one liners seemed divested in the story. The photography and music are spectacular. A. R. Rahman showed even more depth and diversity than usual in his deep and varied score, and I kept wishing that I could freeze frame some of the amazing shots from the film so that I could take them home to use as inspiration for a painting. Plus, food has never looked more yummy! The story is touching and kept my interest from beginning to end. The messages contained within are subtle but definitely there, and they are positive and uplifting, which is a welcome change in today's challenging world. I fell in love with it all! Kudos! Kudos! Kudos to all!