The Hundred-Foot Journey

Compared to recent very good “food” films…Chef, Le Chef, etc…The Hundred-Foot Journey leaves them all in the dust.

This is an excellent film due in large part to a breathtakingly beautiful new French actress named Charlotte Le Bon, the scintillating Helen Mirren, a wonderful adapted screenplay by Steven Knight, the cinematography of Linus Sandgren and great direction by Lasse Hallström.  The rest of the cast and the production crew have all turned in excellent performances, as well.   

The story concerns an Indian family that has lost everything, including the mother, in Mumbai riots and seeks to rebuild their restaurant livelihood in Europe. 

No country or setting ignites the passion of the father (Om Puri) until their van breaks down in the French countryside where he finds the ruin of a restaurant for sale across the road from a one-Michelin-star restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren).  Their presence becomes more than a nuisance to the irritable Madame, when one of the sons (Manish Dayal) proves to be a master chef.

It has love, passion, humor, fun and very good food.  This is one of the films I urge you to see.  I give The Hundred-Foot Journey a 4+ out of 5.