Making its world premiere at South By Southwest is Chef; a pet project of multi-talented writer, director and star, Jon Favreau. As the film’s title character, Favreau plays Carl Casper, a hardworking head-gourmet who finds himself in a creative rut after spending a decade running the kitchen of someone else’s restaurant. Regular head butting with his boss (Dustin Hoffman) and a scathing review from an oily, celebrity critic (Oliver Platt), lead Casper to throw down the apron and choose his artistic integrity over a steady check. Meanwhile, Casper’s young son (Emjay Anthony) finds their relationship strained over his father’s passion for his craft. Casper eventually starts over when he refurbishes a beat up food truck and drives cross country with his son.

Chef is a nice, unpretentious little film that anyone who has a creative passion can relate to. Substitute Carl’s cooking with sculpting, dancing or (in Favreau’s case) filmmaking, and the message doesn’t change a bit. There’s something cathartic about a scene in which Carl lets loose on Platt’s snooty critic, and holds nothing back as he shouts every bit of vitriol that comes to mind. As something of a filmmaker myself, I can’t help but appreciate the sentiment (which is why I always feel a little dirty reviewing other people’s films. This dude made Iron Man. What do I know!?) After all, anyone can sit back and criticize something, but it takes someone who’s “been there – done that” to fully understand the hardship that goes into making it.

Like Carl, who wants desperately to return to his artistic roots, it seems fitting that this smaller, very personal story comes from Favreau after spending the better part of the decade working on some of the biggest pictures in Hollywood. Luckily for the audience, Favreau is able to use this clout to build a phenomenal cast in even the smallest roles. John Leguizamo is expectedly energetic as Casper’s right-hand man, and I certainly can’t complain about the inclusion of Sofia Vergara and Scarlett Johansson as Casper’s ex-wife and waitress, respectively. Admittedly, the real star of the show is ten-year old Emjay Anthony as Casper’s wide-eyed, tech-savvy son, Percy. His line delivery is just as natural as any of the heavy hitters he’s sharing the screen with, and as Favreau himself admitted in the Q&A afterwards, the casting of a lesser actor would have caused the film itself to fall apart.

The film’s screenplay features all the Exacto-sharp wit you’d expect from Favreau, but I admit, even I couldn’t keep up with all of the dialogue due to the roaring laughter in the theater (as cheesy as it sounds, it‘s true!). Chef isn’t going to change the world or build a universe, but it will hopefully give other artists/creators a chance to think about what matters most in their life. Otherwise, what is art for?

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