THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY DVD (2014)

SYNOPSIS: Starring Academy Award(R) winner Helen Mirren (Best Actress, THE QUEEN, 2006), produced by Steven Speilberg, Oprah Winfrey and Julia Blake, and directed by Lasse Hallstr-m (CHOCOLAT), this uplifting story bursts with flavor, passion and heart. When the chill chef proprietress of a Michelin-starred French restaurant in southern France (Mirren) gets wind of a culinary immigrant opening an Indian restaurant just 100 feet from her own, her icy protests escalate to all-out war between the two establishments. It's a celebration of triumph over exile as these two worlds collide and one young man tries to find the comfort of home in every pot -- wherever he may be.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Call it sentimental, schmaltzy but The One Hundred-Foot Journey is one of the must-watched movies of 2014.

The Kadam Family decides to uproot to Europe after a tragic incident back home in Mumbai. When the brakes on their old van broke down in a quaint little French village, Papa (Om Puri) settled on opening an Indian restaurant, Maison Mumbai opposite an upscale French restaurant, Le Saule Pleureur owned by the snobbish Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren).

As fate would have it, the second son, Hassan (Manish Dayal) is a talented cook and before long, he is working under Madame Mallory. At the same time, he is romancing the sous chef of Le Saule Pleureur, Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon). With his career taking off, will Hassan chose the latter or Marguerite?

The screenplay written by Steven Knight known for Eastern Promises and Redemption and adapted from the novel by former Forbes correspondent Richard C. Morais is largely a predictable and feel-good affair. Ultimately, it’s a journey that takes you from point a to point b without much fanfare liked many of director Lasse Hallstrom’s (Chocolat, Safe Haven) recent movies. However in the case of The One Hundred-Foot Journey, the journey is a crowd-pleasing one with a few surprises.

How about Linus Sandgren’s (American Hustle, Promised Land) lush cinematography for starters? For main course, it’s inevitably Dame Helen Mirren sashaying effortlessly across the kitchen in fluent French. Not that Puri, Dayal or Le Bon is bad but Mirren is simply breathtaking in every scene. A.R. Rahman, the acclaimed composer for Slumdog Millionaire provides the often-stirring score, very much the sweet dessert.

Despite all the fanciful gastronomic culinary dishes on display, The One Hundred-Foot Journey is pure comfort food for people looking for a no frills viewing experience. Cultural clashes has never look so good on the big screen. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Recipe, The Ingredients, The Journey is a 16 minutes feature that takes viewers behind the process of creating the sets and food for the camera with also the cast and crew discussing the story and characters. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The movie is rich with ambient sound effects and absolutely gorgeous visual images.  

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee