Chef Movie Poster Image

Chef

age 15+
(i)

 

Salty comedy about food and fatherhood is made with love.
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Parents recommendPopular with kids
  • Review Date: May 9, 2014
  • Rated: R
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Release Year: 2014
  • Running Time: 115 minutes

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What parents need to know

Positive messages

The core message is strongly positive: Be true to yourself and your work. While it's good to take others' opinions into account, you'll lose your voice if their opinion trumps yours. Also, family is important, especially in times of distress. And when you're down and out, that might just be the best time to try something courageous. You have nothing to lose.

Positive role models

Carl is a fighter, and even when he's been defeated (at work, mostly), he doesn't stay defeated for too long. In fact, he continues to be gracious to others, honest with himself about his shortcomings, and willing to learn how to be better. (No wonder his staff is devoted to him and his vision.) He also struggles mightily to do better as a dad, even if it requires sacrifices on his part.

Violence

A chef goes on an expletive-laden tirade against his restaurant's owner and, later, a food critic.

Sex

Some references to sex acts between adults. A couple kisses, and the woman is later shown reclining in bed, waiting for her lover as he cooks for her. Adults make sexual jokes in front of a child.

Language

Quite salty throughout, with both adults and kids swearing at or around each other. Words include "f--k," "s--t," "damn," "piss," "a--hole," "p---y," and more.

Consumerism

Lots of name-dropping of websites, including Twitter (the process of how to tweet is explained, too), YouTube, and the like. A 10-year-old boy wields an iPhone like a pro, texting and making movies with it. Also: Don Juan tequila, Cafe Dumond, Ketel One, Eater.com, etc.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

Adults are shown smoking (both cigarettes and weed) and drinking socially. A boy is allowed a sip of beer by his father.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Chef, starring Jon Favreau (who also wrote and directed the movie) is a fantastic comedy about food, family, and one man's flawed but abiding love for both. The main content issue is salty language ("f--k," "s--t," and more), with one character swearing in front of his young son and an expletive-filled rant being caught on video and posted on YouTube/other websites. There are also some sexual references, kissing, and a woman shown waiting in bed for her lover (no nudity). Adults drink and smoke both marijuana and cigarettes. Technology plays a prominent role in the storyline, along with the attendant product placement. The movie's core message is clearly positive -- be true to yourself and your work -- but beware if you're on a diet: There are plenty of mouth-watering scenes set in the kitchen.

What's the story?

Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) is an inspired, creative chef toiling at an uninspired Los Angeles restaurant. He's capable of so much more than the safe, predictable menu that he serves under the watchful gaze of the restaurant's owner (Dustin Hoffman). After a big-time food blogger (Oliver Platt), once a fan of Carl's, gives him the worst review of his life, Carl confronts his boss and quits. Now what? At the invitation of his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara), Carl accompanies her and their son to Miami, where Carl first fell in love with cooking and honed his fresh ideas about food. With no restaurant to cook for, Carl considers opening a food truck. But is that his best move?

Is it any good?

QUALITY

Favreau has starred in and directed blockbusters (including the first two Iron Man movies). But he got his start thinking smaller scale, with his breakout indie hit Swingers. CHEF is most likely to please fans of the latter; it's steeped in love -- not just for food, but for filmmaking. This is a movie clearly made with passion and gusto, just as cooking should be. Chef's storyline, filled with references to social media and how it can make or break you, is of-the-moment, but it's ultimately threaded through with a timeless message about finding your bliss.

It's also a fresh take on fatherhood, post-divorce, without the usual treacle. Carl struggles mightily to parent well, even as he juggles the pressures of a career on the brink of destruction, a friendly but still bittersweet divorce, and a heaping dose of self-doubt. His yearning to find his footing as a dad is as authentically drawn as his drive to serve the kind of food he's always longed to cook: simple and good. If there's one complaint about Chef, it's that the ending can be spotted a few food trucks away. But that doesn't feel like a major disappointment -- just what's meant to be. John Leguizamo, Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson also co-star -- brilliantly.

 

 

 

Families can talk about...

  • Families can talk about Chef's messages. Are any of the positive take-aways about being true to yourself and what you love undercut by the movie's more mature content? What audience do you think the movie is primarily aimed at?

  • What role does social media play in the story? Do you consider Carl's experiences a cautionary tale? What can teens take away from what he goes through?

  • Hollywood loves stories about comeback kids. Is Carl one? What's different about his journey?

  • Is Carl a good father? How would you characterize his relationship with his son? How does the film depict their dynamic?

Movie details

Theatrical release date:May 9, 2014
DVD release date:September 30, 2014
Cast:Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson
Director:Jon Favreau
Studio:Open Road Films
Genre:Comedy
Run time:115 minutes
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:language, including some suggestive references

This review of Chef was written by

S. Jhoanna Robledo
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are conducted by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Quality

Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Learning ratings

  • Best: Really engaging; great learning approach.
  • Very Good: Engaging; good learning approach.
  • Good: Pretty engaging; good learning approach.
  • Fair: Somewhat engaging; OK learning approach.
  • Not for Learning: Not recommended for learning.
  • Not for Kids: Not age-appropriate for kids; not recommended for learning.

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Teen, 13 years old Written byWarriorsCat August 23, 2014
age 10+

Awesome movie

Let's see... why is this movie rated R? Oh, curse words. Why was Coraline rated PG??!! I still have nightmares about that movie and I'm 13!! (I don't have nightmares about Chef) Chef was a family movie! The MPAA is pathetic. See this movie. It was an extraordinary film.
What other families should know
Great messages
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Parent Written byhelpinghand June 10, 2014
age 15+

Eating, fun, and a lot more eating

A fu loving story with a great heart, fairly light hearted fun with a terrific cast and lead acting performances. It was definently better then I expected. Parents should know that this is rated R for mostly just language with about 50 F words, no violence and limited sexual content.
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Teen, 17 years old Written byB-KMastah May 9, 2014
age 13+

Inconsistent, but mostly smart.

I got to see a New York Film Critics Series preview of this, which was nice, and I'm glad I went. The trailers were okay; they didn't really sell anything but I figured that I would go, and I was surprised for the most part. The first half of this movie is brilliant. It's a razor-sharp satire of the film business, but with food. It acts as a commentary on studio involvement of movies, film criticism, and the perception of what would please the public, and it all works extremely well. The dialogue is witty and the movie tends to balance a fair amount of material. I laughed a ton, actually, because it was so surprising in how smart it was. However, it seems like the second half is actually a different movie. The film switches from being a form of satire to actually being very ordinary. It's still entertaining (although they definitely could have tightened it up a bit; there's a storyline that goes on for 25 minutes too long), but it suddenly becomes a rather predictable father-son bonding story that doesn't mesh with the first half. They don't really even wrap up characters in the earlier parts; they just disappear and don't even get referenced at the conclusion. Still, the characters were well-developed enough for me to care about what happened to them, and that kept me interested. 7.8/10, good, one thumb up, above average, etc.
What other families should know
Great messages
Great role models
Too much swearing
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