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Chef

Chef

Comedy · 2014

When Chef Carl Casper suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner, he is left to figure out what's next. Finding himself in Miami, he teams up with his ex-wife, his friend and his son to launch a food truck. Taking to the road, Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen -- and zest for life and love.

Movie details

Chef

“Starting from scratch never tasted so good.”

2014 Comedy 1h 54m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

When Chef Carl Casper suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner, he is left to figure out what's next. Finding himself in Miami, he teams up with his ex-wife, his friend and his son to launch a food truck. Taking to the road, Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen -- and zest for life and love.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Chef?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jon Favreau

Written by

Jon Favreau

Jon Favreau

Jon Favreau

Carl Casper

John Leguizamo

John Leguizamo

Martin

Bobby Cannavale

Bobby Cannavale

Tony

Emjay Anthony

Emjay Anthony

Percy

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

Molly

Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman

Riva

Sofía Vergara

Sofía Vergara

Inez

Court is in session

Put Chef on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.