Over the years, I have noticed that most cooking movies are really great entertainment. "Babette's Feast", "Big Night" and "Bella Martha" are a few great cooking films I have seen and so I was looking forward to seeing "Today's Special". Fortunately, my expectations were met. While not quite in the same league as these three films, it was very close--and a film I can heartily recommend.
Aasif Mandva plays Samir--an Indian-American who is classically trained and has dreams of going to France to further his culinary education. Unfortunately, just before he leaves, his father has a heart attack and Samir is forced to stay and run his family's horrible Indian restaurant. I say horrible because the place is filthy, the chef is a filthy pig and the food is wretched. Truly Samir has his work cut out for him--particularly because he knows nothing about Indian cooking. By chance, he happens to meet a cabbie who claims he knows how to cook well and Samir hires him to work in the restaurant. What's next? See the film as there is so much more to the movie--such as Samir's very problematic relationship with his father, Samir's pathetic dating life and his father's plans to sell the restaurant! Why did I like this film? Well, it had a wonderful ensemble cast. So many of the supporting characters were very cute and likable. Additionally, Naseeruddin Shah did a lovely job as the cabbie cook--which was a very important foundation for the film. Well worth seeing, a bit funny and with a lot of heart.
Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, another wonderful film about cooking is "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman". If you can think of any others let me know--I am always in the mood for a good food film.
Aasif Mandva plays Samir--an Indian-American who is classically trained and has dreams of going to France to further his culinary education. Unfortunately, just before he leaves, his father has a heart attack and Samir is forced to stay and run his family's horrible Indian restaurant. I say horrible because the place is filthy, the chef is a filthy pig and the food is wretched. Truly Samir has his work cut out for him--particularly because he knows nothing about Indian cooking. By chance, he happens to meet a cabbie who claims he knows how to cook well and Samir hires him to work in the restaurant. What's next? See the film as there is so much more to the movie--such as Samir's very problematic relationship with his father, Samir's pathetic dating life and his father's plans to sell the restaurant! Why did I like this film? Well, it had a wonderful ensemble cast. So many of the supporting characters were very cute and likable. Additionally, Naseeruddin Shah did a lovely job as the cabbie cook--which was a very important foundation for the film. Well worth seeing, a bit funny and with a lot of heart.
Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, another wonderful film about cooking is "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman". If you can think of any others let me know--I am always in the mood for a good food film.