A German film that tells the story of chef Martha and the changes in her life and job after her orphan niece moves to her place and a new Italian chef joins the team in her restaurant. Love will be a catalyst in Martha's personal life, and also in the way she approaches food and her job as a chef.
The movie is a nice mix of drama, romance, and "foodies" movie, with stereotypical characters: the flourish flirtatious Italian, the hard resilient cold German, and the rebellious troubled kid.
The believability of the movie is heavily indebted to Martina Gedeck's performance as Martha and to child Maxime Foerste as her nice Lina. They both play with great conviction their respective hard characters. Sergio Castellitto is very charming as the Italian chef Mario, and plays his character with a mix of downgraded Italianism and Flourish Germanism, so to speak. The three of them have a great chemistry on camera and carry on the story well.
Said this, I found that the romance story, although charming, was underdeveloped, while the struggling relationship with the kid was completely predictable and unoriginal. In fact this is just a traditional film recipe well carried on and well acted. However, the movie received an accolade of local and European awards and lead Hollywood to adapt the movie in No Reservations, adapting the plot to American tastes and turning it into a straight comedy.
An enjoyable film with stereotypical characters and situations, and very good performances. Perfect for foodies!
The movie is a nice mix of drama, romance, and "foodies" movie, with stereotypical characters: the flourish flirtatious Italian, the hard resilient cold German, and the rebellious troubled kid.
The believability of the movie is heavily indebted to Martina Gedeck's performance as Martha and to child Maxime Foerste as her nice Lina. They both play with great conviction their respective hard characters. Sergio Castellitto is very charming as the Italian chef Mario, and plays his character with a mix of downgraded Italianism and Flourish Germanism, so to speak. The three of them have a great chemistry on camera and carry on the story well.
Said this, I found that the romance story, although charming, was underdeveloped, while the struggling relationship with the kid was completely predictable and unoriginal. In fact this is just a traditional film recipe well carried on and well acted. However, the movie received an accolade of local and European awards and lead Hollywood to adapt the movie in No Reservations, adapting the plot to American tastes and turning it into a straight comedy.
An enjoyable film with stereotypical characters and situations, and very good performances. Perfect for foodies!