No reservations, 2007

No reservations, 2007
Director: Scott Hicks
Cast: Catherine Zeta Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin



Stage: Home theatre

No reservations in short: A master chef, Kate, lives her life like she runs the kitchen at upscale 22 Bleecker Restaurant in Manhattan--with a no-nonsense intensity that both captivates and intimidates everyone around her. With breathtaking precision, she powers through each hectic shift, coordinating hundreds of meals, preparing delicate sauces, seasoning and simmering each dish to absolute perfection.

Preps: Mmmm, none in perticular. Zeta as chef? Need to see this urgently. Always wanted to be one. Chef, that is.


Reality: Hm. The world of chef is a tuff one. I wanted to (and I still do) have a restaurant. I have always wanted to have one. Always drull with movies where they cook. One of my best ones is Julie and Julia. Or see maybe also The soul kitchen. Superb. Anyhow, wherever parsley is being cut and beef or chicken is put on stew or on butter, here I am. I am bought.

In this case, a cute romantic rival story between two chefs, mixed alltogether within a family drama. Taking care of a small child or being a chef? A hard decision. Meeting your spouse inbetween? well, would love to see this turn out happily. Because you need to decide at some point what to do. OK, if you are a high flyer and are in the middle of the lauch of your career, and you get a new kid - that's a problem. Or a challenge, put it as you want it. The kid hates your guts, you are in the middle of mourning for your relative and his kid doesn't want you to play the mother. This is the world of Zeta Jones right when she believes she's on the breakthrough of her career. A good plot story and an interesting follow through in what is she going to do.

Spiced with exotic cooking, filled with taste and lust. For a soul that likes to cook the way I do, a beautiful piece to see. Nothing in perticular amazing about the cast, the scenery, dialogues. But I enjoyed the romantic dwelling in the kitchen and it definitely made me hungry. A piece I will love to see again, although I don't find it any more than average.


My personal rating: 5,0 (Zeta goes into this macho feminine chef pose I adore. And she cooks in the totally male world, and owns him. On the other side, it's pretty clear. A good career or a strong family. Never both at the same time.
No reservations on IMDB

Getting even with dad, 1994

Getting Even With Dad, 1994
Director: Howard Deutch
Cast: Macauley Culkin, Ted Danson



Stage: home theatre, NY selection on local TV - afternoon

Getting even in short: Ray, an ex-con and widower, is planning a coin heist with two accomplices to help him to buy his own bakery. However, he doesn't expect his son Timmy, who was living with Ray's sister, to show up at the house right in the middle of planning. Timmy is ignored and Ray and his buddies pull off the heist. Timmy gets his father's attention by stealing the coins and hiding them. To get them back, his father must take him to a number of different places and treat him like he enjoys his presence. They grow fond of each other but Timmy won't stay with his dad unless he gives up the coins.


Preps: None whatsoever. Since I don't have a better idea for a Sunday afternoon I will look at what the decent TV folks are recommending for the after NY party mood.


Reality: Yuk. Macauley Culkin in another sync of Home Alone. Hmmmmm. Well, I guess he needed to cash in the fame he had in those years. After that they would always connect him with the main character he played in those HA movies. But.. there's also Ted Danson, who shot himself into the star world with this genre. In this case, he plays a foolish dad, that doesn't want to be recognized as dad, and that in any chosen moment in the movie states this aloud without any shame or doubt. And yet, (so Hollywood like), changes his mind in one week and wants to be a father after all. Yes, also the villains and robbers have souls and urge to be daddies. The story is underestimating the viewer, more than obvious exploiting the fame of Culkin (the script is so similar to Home alone funny scenes, it's pretty straightforward what the director is trying to pull off). And most of robbers are really jackasses, but do they need to be so dumb as they show in this piece?

I strongly disrecommend this, as it will give you nothing more than a headache. Predictable flow, predictable ending, horrible script, vague cast.. hm. Don't waste your time. It's not really a family comedy, mere a family copy of Home Alone. I know, even if you see that can turn over those steps for the xxxth time, it still feels funny. But this is only because we kinda grew up with Home Alone. And everything that looks up to that movie and tries to be a better copy, only fails badly.




My personal rate: 2,0 (I wouldn't call et even decent enough to recommend it a bit. However, if you like family comedies of low intel, then it's the right choice)


Getting even with Dad on IMDB