[Movie Review] Burnt (2015)

Posted on October 30, 2015 by thegrandshuckett in Movie Reviews // 0 Comments

Director: John Wells

Writers: Steven Knight, Michael Kalesniko

Runtime: 101 min

Main Cast:

Bradley Cooper as Adam Jones
Sienna Miller as Helene
Daniel Bruhl as Tony
Omar Sy as Michel
Emma Thompson as Dr. Rosshilde
Uma Thurman as Simone Forth

Review: by Mia

I went into the theater with high hopes for this rendition of cuisine as an art form. Anyone who is a fan of cooking understands that the Chefs and restaurants most respectful of it and most famous for cuisine treat the profession as an art form. Personally, I’m no chef but I do love watching the professionals do their work as a fan of art (and food). I expected Bradley Cooper to do extremely well in the role of a Chef. There is a known arrogance in the profession that I figured he could really bring out well because he is known for it. I also expected the cinematography to invest a lot in making every scene feel artistic and dramatic. I didn’t do much research on the back story of Burnt before seeing it, but I expected it to persuade the audience that it was an authentic Chef experience, fighting for fame, recognition, and perfect tastes. As a movie, I expected lots of drama, maybe even some action and suspense based on the trailer, and of course: cuisine glory at the end for our main character. The movie turned out to have a better theme and progression than I anticipated.

The story is of a disgraced Chef, very well known in the cuisine circuit and probably the most famous Chef of his time. The story is set in his thirties, a few years after he disappears from the Paris cuisine scene. He was a Chef Prodigy in Paris, working with the best of the best and earning two Michelin Stars (which is an extremely thing to accomplish cuisine, if you’re unfamiliar) in his early twenties. Despite his impressive track record in the cuisine circuit, the main character Adam Langham essentially crashes and burns due to sex, drugs, and alcohol.

The movie begins with Adam appearing in London after having been presumed dead by pretty much every acquaintance that he had. He is a black listed Chef with no education in the rebirthed cuisine art, which uses equipment and techniques that weren’t considered acceptable practices when he was in his first prime. With a combination of his talent and arrogance, he gets himself back into the restaurant business, hand picks the team of Chefs that he wants, and teams up with the Maitre D’ that was/is considered the best of their time as well. He has to learn to accept the new practices in cooking with the help of his prized sous chef and romantic interest and create a menu that will wow the harsh critics expecting him to crash and burn a second time around. You watch how Adam both charms and terrifies those around him with his talent and his dramatic flair in the kitchen. Like the common idea of professional chefs, he is harsh and dramatic. He breaks dishes, yells, criticizes, but also teaches and creates and impresses. His team invests everything in putting together a popular restaurant determined to win three stars from Michelin.

Of course, this new chance at redemption comes with the condition that Adam takes weekly drug tests with a private doctor hired by his reluctant Maitre D’. He has been sober for just over two years and all invested in his restaurant want to make sure that he doesn’t create a reputation for himself in London the way that he did in Paris. Adam is confident, having sworn off sex, drugs, and alcohol, that he can do what he feels is his destiny. Somehow along the way, he begins to want more than the fame of redemption, but also the closure of making up for his past with those he runs into from it. He wants the respect of the cuisine world again, and gets it through the hate/love rivalry between himself and a Chef he worked with in his youth who received three-star recognition while Adam was away. It is now Adam’s turn to prove he can create an atmosphere, service, and menu that deserves the highest recognition given to Chefs worldwide.

4.5

Summary

The full marks were not given just based on the one plot hole that I feel was left in the story line. There was a moment (trying to avoid spoilers here) where Adam nearly reverts back into the behavior that ruined him in the first place. This close call could have ruined everything but miraculously nothing at all comes from the event and it should have gotten a bit more attention, in my opinion. Otherwise, this was one of the best movies I watched in 2015. Every character, no matter how short their appearance, is given a clear place in the story line. When the characters reference the past, you have a clear idea of what their world was like before we became witnesses as the audience. You get the action you want from this movie, not in cliché action form, but in the kitchen and the suspense that comes with the pressures of professional cooking. You get the love stories and you get the heartbreaks. Adam feels like a genuinely growing individual and the audience gets to witness the culmination of that strength and growth and how the people around him are necessary for it. He is still that famed prodigy, but it becomes clear that he is human and full of emotion just like everyone else. I loved the look into the cuisine world. I do wish that there was more attention put into explaining the technical skills required doing such work, but as a movie and a story I really appreciated this film.

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