Chef (Jon Favreau)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m not sure why I put the DVD of the 2014 film ‘Chef’ on my wishlist. Possibly Amazon recommended it to me because Dustin Hoffman is one of the cast, and I have previously liked films in which he featured. I was given it for Christmas, and we decided to watch it last night. We didn’t really know anything about it, but the image on the front and bylines on the back suggested an amusing ‘feel-good’ film. 

In the first fifteen minutes or so, I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it at all. The scene is a large kitchen at a restaurant, with the head chef Carl (Jon Favreau) frantically preparing food. There’s a huge whole pig carcass that they deal with; I closed my eyes during that segment, and hoped there wouldn’t be much more like that. I was also rather disturbed that there was an excessive amount of ‘strong’ language. It was perhaps a good way to denote stress, but rather spoiled the dialogue in my opinion.

Three to tango (Matthew Perry)

(Amazon UK link)

I had never heard of the 1999 film ‘Three to tango’. But I saw it inexpensively in a charity shop, and thought it sounded interesting, as well as a bit different. We decided to watch it last night. 

The story begins with two rival companies hoping to land a lucrative building contract. The person making the decision is a wealthy, powerful man called Charles (Dylan McDermott). And Charles, we soon learn, has a mistress as well as a wife. Neve Campbell is excellent as Amy, who is well aware of the existence of the wife. And she is still friendly with a lot of other men with whom, it’s implied, she has previously had romantic entanglements.

Each of the two rival architectural companies has two representatives. The first ones are arrogant, convinced they will succeed. The other two are Oscar (Matthew Perry) and Peter (Oliver Platt). They seem somewhat mismatched; Oscar has Scandinavian roots and is quite a womaniser, although he isn’t currently in a relationship. He’s also something of a klutz, forever tripping over or knocking things down. Peter, by contrast, is suave, confident, and also gay. 

The two are good friends, but Charles’ secretary assumes that they are partners in more than one sense. And an amusing conversation between Charles and Oscar leaves Charles with believing that it’s Oscar who is gay, rather than Peter. And since he’s quite a jealous sort, he asks Oscar to keep an eye on Amy at an upcoming exhibition of her glass-blowing artwork. Charles is unable to be there, but he knows that some of his rivals for her affection may well be present.

The film is essentially a comedy of manners, and it’s very well done. Oscar can’t persuade Charles that he is straight, and he also becomes increasingly attracted to Amy. She is very happy to have a male friend whom she believes is not interested in her, and she shares details about her life that she has never mentioned to anyone else. 

The point is made, more than once, that each individual is unique and that people should be treated as individuals, rather than grouped based on their sexuality or gender. Oscar makes an impassioned speech to a reporter, trying to say that builders should be judged on their building proposals and work, and that being gay - or straight - should not be relevant. Unfortunately this leads to front-page headlines which upset his father, and surprise his mother… and which lead to him being asked to accept an award which he has no right to…

It could have been a bit sordid, but it manages to steer clear of that. Oscar is a very likeable man, caught up in the deception, and falling more and more for Amy. He starts to see how women are sometimes objectified, and there’s a great scene where he chats to Amy and her friends about unwanted attention from random strangers. It makes the point extremely well.

Naturally, since it’s a light-hearted film, there are some caricatured characters, who add to the humour. We didn’t laugh aloud, but there are some cleverly choreographed scenes and some amusing one-liners that made us smile. And there’s some poignancy, too.  

The acting is good, and there’s a lot of great musical background which we thought blended in extremely well. We loved the opening title sequence, which was very well done, and I thought Oscar, in particular, was excellent in his characterisation and facial expressions, as well as his general clumsiness. 

All in all, we liked the film very much. It’s rated 12, which reflects the lack of anything explicit. There’s some minor violence (in the form of punches), and some semi-nudity, but nothing that would merit a higher rating. There are some instances of bad language, including one instance of ‘strong’ language, but it wasn’t excessive. And while much of the theme revolves around sexuality, it’s all tastefully done. I can’t imagine it would be of any interest to children or teens anyway, but for broad-minded adults, I would recommend this. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews

Hope Springs (Colin Firth)

(Amazon UK link)

A couple of months ago we watched one of our DVDs with the title ‘Hope Springs’, and last night we watched the other one. Both are billed as romantic comedies, both are about relationships and are mildly amusing in places rather than hilarious - but there the similarity ends.

It’s a long time since we first saw the second ‘Hope Springs’, which stars Colin Firth as a young man called, appropriately, Colin. He is a talented artist visiting the United States, and we quickly learn that he’s nursing a broken heart. His fiancee Vera (Minnie Driver) has behaved quite callously, and he wants to forget her.

He stays at a motel managed by Mr and Mrs Fisher (Frank Collison and Mary Steenburgen) who are responsible for much of the humour. Fisher has a most unusual and expressive face, and is one of the first people Colin draws. Mrs Fisher introduces him to Mandy (Heather Graham) who is supposedly a grief therapist. But she is rather a confused person, and she and Colin are quickly attracted to each other…

The story is something of a classic love triangle - inevitably Vera arrives and Colin is caught between her and Mandy, both wanting him, while he isn’t entirely sure what he wants, and tries to hide things from each of them, which naturally enough causes them both to become upset with him.

There are some other interesting characters in the film - the mayor (Oliver Platt) who is smug and entirely self-centered, quite amusingly so when he meets Colin and has his portrait drawn. And there are shopkeepers who take an inordinate interest in Colin…this is small-town America at its best.

There’s nothing deep in the film, and much that is shallow, but the acting is good the chemistry between Colin and both the leading ladies is excellent, and we learned in the ‘making of’ extra that in fact Colin Firth and Minnie Driver had been close friends for years, something that came across well in the film.

Colin’s comic timing is excellent and while in places I winced rather than chuckling, we did smile several times, and I found some of the dialogue quite amusing.

Rated 12A which seems about right, though I might have opted for 15. There’s quite a bit of implied sex, though nothing explicit, and I don’t recall any strong language. It’s certainly not suitable for children; unlikely to be of any interest to younger teenagers either. But for us, it made a good evening’s light viewing.

Recommended.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

Hope Springs (Colin Firth, Heather Graham, Minnie Driver)

(Amazon UK link)

It doesn’t take much to confuse me. So, I was mystified by finding reviews of a film I had seen - the 2012 ‘Hope Springs’ starring Meryl Streep - and one I had no recollection of, starring Colin Firth, with the same title. I did realise fairly quickly that these were entirely different productions, and put the latter on my wishlist, as it sounded like a good film. We watched it last night with our younger son, who is in his 20s.

Colin Firth’s character is also called Colin. He’s an Englishman who is very talented at charcoal portraits, and arrives in a small town called Hope in the USA. We quickly learn that he’s suffered a painful betrayal, and is running away from his memories of his ex-fiancée, Vera.

He stays at an inn, owned by a friendly couple who send him a therapist, the vibrant Mandy (Heather Graham). There’s a strong attraction between the two, after a slightly shaky start, and Colin is beginning to feel that he can move on, when Vera (Minnie Driver) turns up, determined to woo him back…

The overall plot is fairly predictable, but the detail is unexpected, and beautifully done. Mandy is decidedly quirky with a host of problems of her own, and Vera is not the harpy she first seems. There’s a very good chemistry between Vera and Colin, which is explained in the brief documentary ‘extra’: apparently the two have worked together many times and know each other well.

And it’s a lot of fun. Some ‘rom-com’ films are high on the romance but have little comedy; others rely on slapstick or bawdy humour that appeals to a limited audience only. This one (mostly) gets it just right: the timing is superb, the script cleverly written. There are some obvious cultural misunderstandings that lead to humour, but most of it is understated and all the more amusing as a result. There are some decidedly silly sections too, and it’s not a thought-provoking or even memorable film - but we liked it.

There’s some lovely scenery - the autumn colours are there in full - but the story is character-based, and the settings less relevant. The three main players are excellent, with the minor ones portraying lovable caricatures who add to the whole. The pace is just right, and at around 90 minutes, it felt like a perfect length.

Rated 12 in the UK, PG-13 in the US, I think that’s probably appropriate. Most of the bad language is minor - and not excessive - and we only noticed one incident of so-called ‘strong’ language. There are, unsurprisingly, some bedroom scenes, but they’re tastefully done; people are shown in underwear more than once, but they are not directly shown doing anything ‘adult’. There are plenty of implications; however the storyline is such that I can’t imagine anyone under the age of about fifteen or sixteen being interested anyway.

The only ‘extra’ is a brief documentary featuring most of the main characters, explaining that most of the filming was done in heavy rain.

Recommended, if you want something lightweight and enjoy the romantic comedy genre.

Review copyright 2015 Sue's DVD Reviews