Here are some films that have food and cooking at their core, but are enjoyable regardless:
BIG NIGHT (1996) – The story takes place in the 1950s in a restaurant run by two brothers (played by Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci) who have come to America from Italy. They are struggling to survive in the business and come upon a plan to have a “big night” with an appearance at their place by a celebrity, Louis Prima. The centerpiece of the special meal they create is a timpano, an Italian dish you won’t want to make yourself after you see this film. But the visual experience of seeing this timpano being created is something to behold. While this is a film with food as a focal point, the story is really about the relationship of the two brothers. The final scene in the movie is a single wide static shot of the brothers eating scrambled eggs. The scene has no dialogue and lasts for several minutes. Sounds boring, right? No, actually, it’s a pitch-perfect way to end the film, and it resonates with genuine emotion.
DINNER RUSH (2000) – Danny Aiello plays the owner of an Italian restaurant in New York and the story takes place during a single busy night. An amazing ensemble of actors populates this film, which bounces from the kitchen to the dining room to the street and back to the kitchen. Lots of storylines are taking place simultaneously and things happen toward the end that you definitely would not have expected. To say more would be to ruin the movie for those who haven’t seen it. So if you haven’t seen Dinner Rush, check it out.
MOSTLY MARTHA (2001) – This is a German film so you’ll have to deal with subtitles, but it’s well worth it. A top woman chef is living a self-centered, lonely life when she ends up the guardian of her eight-year-old niece when the girl’s mom is killed in a car wreck. As the story unfolds, the relationship between the two goes from frosty to loving in somewhat predictable ways. But it’s an emotionally involving movie and worth the investment of time to watch. Plus it has some great music by jazzman Keith Jarrett. Mostly Martha was remade as a much more high-profile American movie called No Reservations, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Abigail Breslin and Aaron Eckhart. The remake isn’t bad, but the original German version is better.
EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN (1994) – Speaking of foreign films, this one’s a classic. It’s in Mandarin Chinese so again you’ll need to read subtitles. This is a fine film, directed by Ang Lee, who would go on to make the Oscar-nominated films Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain. Eat Drink Man Woman is about a father and his daughters, with food as an inspiring thread that weaves its way through the story. This movie was remade as…TORTILLA SOUP (2001) - …a Hispanic version of Eat Drink Man
Woman. The father is played by Hector Elizondo, who loves to cook but is losing his ability to do so while maintaining a special relationship with his three beautiful daughters. Virtually every time the family gets together over a fabulous meal, one of the daughters makes an “announcement” to the family, which is what propels the story forward. This movie is a little on the “soapy” side, but the family relationships are a treasure and the food looks fantastic.
RATATOUILLE (2007) – This animated feature is a delight from first frame to last. It deservedly won the Oscar for best animated feature (and was nominated for four others). One might think a story about rats in a restaurant kitchen is a suspect idea, but it really works. A rat named Remy shows off his culinary prowess in a highbrow Paris eatery. Hilarious, goofy, heartwarming, colorful – this movie has it all.
Do you have a favorite movie with a food theme that wasn’t on this list? Click on the ‘comments’ button at the end of this post and send us your thoughts.
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