Review of The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) by Augustine H — 28 Dec 2016

Pleasant enough without creating any real dramatic tension, The Hundred-Foot Journey is the story of a young Indian chef who's family opens a restaurant in a small French village. Over the road from where they open is a Michelin starred restaurant, specialising in traditional French cuisine.

The movie tells of the initial rivalry between the two establishments and the gradual building of cultural recognition, cooperation and acceptance that develops. It is harmless enough with a good central message that is unsubtly hammered home.

Helen Mirren does her best "poe-faced" acting as the owner of the French establishment who has a gradual softening of her attitude while Om Puri is the head of the Indian family who has his own prejudices to face.

Manish Dayal is a fairly lightweight leading man and I didn't really get much of a sense of passion from him in the role of chef, Hassan. At the end of the movie, I don't really feel I understood the cuisines of France or India any better than I did at the start and I certainly didn't pick up any further knowledge about what it is that makes us all tick but it had a least passed the time without pain or discomfort.

....a sort of movie Mogadon.