Tuesday 10 November 2015

Film: 'Burnt'

Oh dear! I did find this a bit of an endurance test - and none too surprised at that as I'm so out of sympathy with the subject matter - a sweary, prima donna-ish chef yelling at his staff in the kitchen of a swanky London restaurant which specialises in all this silly nouvelle cuisine stuff, producing dishes which guarantee that those leaving after their 'meal' will be at least as hungry as when they came in, though their wallets would have been considerably unburdened for the 'satisfaction' of the experience. 
He, predictably, is all hissy fits, hurling plates against the wall amid the constant clatter of kitchen utensils - while his disgruntled, humiliated, verbally abused staff work sullenly and slavishly like beavers. We've seen it all before on reality TV, even though I myself have never been able to sit through a single entire programme of the kind.

What really drew me to bother to see this was the magnetic presence of the star. (I wonder if the said Mr Cooper filmed this while over here appearing in 'The Elephant Man' on stage in the evenings?) Even when acting totally repulsive as here, B.C. continues to have something compelling about him. His main 'punch bag' is Sienna Miller who, while not quite giving back as good as she gets, certainly knows how to stand up to his very public put-downs. Both are undoubtedly on their top form, and I have no quibble at all about any of the acting from any quarters in a strong cast all-round.
He is on a journey of self-redemption after his experience at a restaurant in Paris where all went belly-up, involving drugs and his debauched lifestyle. His past follows him to London where, confident in his own self-esteem, he forces himself into a particular high-class restaurant to show them what's what and to promote their status by the acquisition of Michelin stars, something which had evaded him in France.

Daniel Bruhl is also good as head chef in a nearby rival restaurant. In a fleeting appearance there's Uma Thurman, whom I probably wouldn't have recognised had I not known it was her. In a slightly more substantial role is Emma Thompson as Cooper's sympathetic doctor-cum-confidante.

Director John Wells, whose first main feature film for the cinema this appears to be, fulfils expectations, so no complaints on that score.

There's no doubt that the camerawork captures the exquisite detail of the 'meals' produced - in effect, more 'works of art' for the eyes than satisfying quantity-wise for the stomach. (There are a number of shots of raw meat and fish being carved up for which I had to look away, though most won't be bothered by it.)

It was a personal irritation at what I see as the complete ridiculousness of these stratospherically overpriced 'meals' which prevented any real enjoyment of the film for me. If it's your 'thing' then you're welcome to it, though I see it at the heart of a not-so-interesting story of the Cooper character.

Opinions of the film have been varied but I think few have been overwhelmingly positive about it. Having put my own stance forward, that is the reason for my own rating of a lowly......................4.

13 comments:

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    1. You described the experience perfectly - paying a fortune for culinary experience that will drain your wallet and leave you hungry. Not my style of eating, and the film doesn't seem to whet my appetite, either.

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    2. Jon, I think these are the kind of restaurants where one goes just to be seen by others. If one has money to burn, fair enough, but they're not places to have ones appetite satiated.

      The closest I ever got to experiencing one of these places was back in the early 80s (actually pre-'nouvelle cuisine') in Edinburgh where I paid through the nose to have a fancy 'dish' served to me (it looked good on the menu) after which I was still so hungry that on the way back to my hotel I bought a double-sized bag of chips (fries) for maybe 3% of what I'd paid in that place - and at last actually felt fed!

      I also felt this film could be headache-inducing - so migraine sufferers beware!

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  2. The film received a 'C' grade in Entertainment Weekly, but, yeah, Bradley Cooper.
    I'd have to ask myself if he's worth ten bucks on a big screen or if I can save the ten bucks and see him on TV.

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    1. For me he looks his best with a beard, Bob, and in this the closest he comes to it is with no more than a 'shadow', so as you seem to be in the same position as I was, wondering if it was worth forking out a little to see him in big screen glory I'd suggest it might be better to wait. At least on a small screen that 'shadow' will look more concentrated.

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  3. I do like watching Bradley Cooper. But I will definitely skip this. I'm so tired of these abusive chef characters -- in films, on TV, on "reality shows," and in real life.

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    1. Mitch, it does make me uncomfortable seeing people being abused for entertainment's sake - and even when they're just acting out situations, as here, you're right that we've seen enough of the real stuff to know what it's like. I don't know what sort of people would want to see this re-enacted as a film. If they do, then the surrounding drama requires to be particularly strong, and in this I didn't feel it was that enough.

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  4. I've been very mixed about whether I was going to see this one. I think hurling plates just helped me decide no.

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    1. Although it's by no means all flying crockery, F.B., that same foul-moodiness pervades this film. I think you'd be better off seeing it on the small screen by some means, if you're interested enough.

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  5. Glad to read the review on this. It wasn't a movie I was really interested in seeing anyway.

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    1. For once I'm far from alone in my opinion, S.C. If I hadn't been such a fan of Bradley C I wouldn't have bothered at all. There are, though, others who think highly of the film, it must be said - and who am I to say that they are wrong?

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    1. Maybe you'll get out of it more than I did, F.S. I hope so - and I certainly wouldn't warn anyone off from watching it.

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