Comme un chef

Nothing to be ashamed here, you can do worse than spend an evening with this comedy, but there's little here that puts it above other feel-good comedies with the exception of Jean Reno - who is, sadly, the only one here with real comedy timing. The main actor, Youn, is obviously a bit overstrained with carrying the movie.

Apart from the boring lead, the gags are OK and mostly good-natured, what's maybe missing is a bit more "bite" or bitterness in this altogether rather sweet mix. Some punches are thrown against stylish kitchen trends and star restaurants (which is OK with me, but those are easy targets).

Recommended for people who like cooking themselves (as we do).

Of course, don't expect here a masterpiece or any attempt to make an original plot or anything like that : this is a mainstream production, and all we should expect from it, is just to be funny, well-done, and without bad taste ingredients. And so it is. A simple comedy, gentle, with a good rhythm, and nice characters. In fact, not only the main characters are good here, but everybody is, and the supporting actors here have their place, and contribute to our pleasure. Jean Reno and Michaël Youn compose a nice duet. There's not much that I can add. Except that even if everything was easily expect regarding the plot, what is never obvious to expect is that we'd have such a very good time.

This film is about a chef who has to do his best and reinvent his culinary style in order to stop his boss from closing his restaurant.

"The Chef" is a light hearted way to look at a chef's struggle to keep his act up. He recruits a young chef to help him out, and much hilarity ensues when personalities and different methods of cooking clash. The film keeps a good pace, and there are plenty of funny scenes to keep viewers entertained. I particularly enjoy the scenes on molecular cuisine experimentation, they are so hilarious! The interpersonal relationships are well handled, particularly between the two chefs and between the young chef and his wife. The portrayal of the young chef's financial problem looks very real, and many viewers will be able to relate to that. I enjoyed watching "The Chef" a lot.

this is a great movie,a great comedy with jean reno of top of is game,this movie has a little of everything to have a great time.the association between those 2 actors is one of the best ever,the story is very original and translated a lot of emotions,jean reno is the best actor in the world every scene with him is a delight he is so funny he is hilarious.this movie is perfect to have a great time,it,s deep and clever the should make more of those movies because they are simply great.this is a great french comedy take everybody can love and enjoy.jean reno is amazing is such a great actor and in this movie he is very funny

Le Chef (2012)

Boy are there a lot of these kinds of cooking movies out there, and most of them fall into a familiar pattern. Luckily it's a pattern that works—in that feel good, root for the underdog way.

This is a very lightweight comedy, and the hero is a chef with unusual talents, but also with a lovely fiancée who is getting impatient with his other love—cooking. So he tries to get a real job, and of course that doesn't work and he ends up cooking on the sly. Which leads to a feeling he's "cheating" on his girl, at least mentally, and so on and so on.

The lovely parts of the movie are actually the cooking parts, where you see his talent come alive. There are the usual critics, the mean boss, the underdog friends who are there in a pinch, and so forth. Yes, it's a formula. And it's totally feel good fun.

And there's nothing more to it than that! Bon appetite. And don't confuse this title with "Chef" which is an American twist on the same basic formula.