Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a gourmet New York chef who's in mandatory therapy because her boss, restaurant owner Patricia Clarkson, thinks she's too structured and uptight. She's single and set in her ways, but when her sister dies and leaves her young daughter, Abigail Breslin, in her charge, her entire life turns upside down. Add in a radical new chef, Aaron Eckhart, in her kitchen, and she almost becomes completely unglued!
Catherine Zeta-Jones gives a surprisingly good performance in this comedy-dramedy. Usually, audiences are too stunned by her appearance to even bother noticing whether or not she can act, but in this one, they try very hard to downplay her looks so her acting can shine. She's still beautiful, but it's easy to see her frustration, loneliness, and tenderness. She's in a role that could easily be hammed up by a lazy actress so that the audience quickly gets that she feels out of her element, but Catherine plays it in a realistic way.
Abigail Breslin gives one of her best performances in No Reservations. She can cry at the drop of a hat, and when the script calls for her to be angry, hopeful, or cute, she easily complies. And, while I'm not a very big fan of the rest of the cast, Aaron Eckhart, Patricia Clarkson, and Lily Rabe, they're perfectly adequate in the roles they're given. Aaron is supposed to be at ease and full of himself, Patricia is supposed to be competent and in control, and Lily is supposed to be low-class and annoying.
If, by any chance, you've seen the original German film, Mostly Martha, you should be forewarned that No Reservations takes a very different tone. The romance is barely a plot point in the original, and it's much more of a drama. The American remake is lighter and more romantic.
Either director Scott Hicks or cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh chose a very interesting filming style. In every scene that is supposed to show Catherine's structure, the shots are framed through windows or with bars and lines in the background. While you might not notice the consistency at first, it's quite clever and adds to the feeling of relaxation when she finally lets her hair down. My one complaint in the film-besides my lack of enthusiasm for the romance-is the food shown in Catherine's kitchen. She's a perfectionist and a gourmet, but she's rarely shown preparing or discussing ornate dishes. In one scene, she's given the task of putting a sugar spun garnish on a dessert, something that would never be done by the head chef-and would be taken care of during the preparation hours before the restaurant's open, not during the dinner rush. Besides that, the script is pretty cute, and it's a great date movie to watch with someone you hope will become your sweetie pie.
Catherine Zeta-Jones gives a surprisingly good performance in this comedy-dramedy. Usually, audiences are too stunned by her appearance to even bother noticing whether or not she can act, but in this one, they try very hard to downplay her looks so her acting can shine. She's still beautiful, but it's easy to see her frustration, loneliness, and tenderness. She's in a role that could easily be hammed up by a lazy actress so that the audience quickly gets that she feels out of her element, but Catherine plays it in a realistic way.
Abigail Breslin gives one of her best performances in No Reservations. She can cry at the drop of a hat, and when the script calls for her to be angry, hopeful, or cute, she easily complies. And, while I'm not a very big fan of the rest of the cast, Aaron Eckhart, Patricia Clarkson, and Lily Rabe, they're perfectly adequate in the roles they're given. Aaron is supposed to be at ease and full of himself, Patricia is supposed to be competent and in control, and Lily is supposed to be low-class and annoying.
If, by any chance, you've seen the original German film, Mostly Martha, you should be forewarned that No Reservations takes a very different tone. The romance is barely a plot point in the original, and it's much more of a drama. The American remake is lighter and more romantic.
Either director Scott Hicks or cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh chose a very interesting filming style. In every scene that is supposed to show Catherine's structure, the shots are framed through windows or with bars and lines in the background. While you might not notice the consistency at first, it's quite clever and adds to the feeling of relaxation when she finally lets her hair down. My one complaint in the film-besides my lack of enthusiasm for the romance-is the food shown in Catherine's kitchen. She's a perfectionist and a gourmet, but she's rarely shown preparing or discussing ornate dishes. In one scene, she's given the task of putting a sugar spun garnish on a dessert, something that would never be done by the head chef-and would be taken care of during the preparation hours before the restaurant's open, not during the dinner rush. Besides that, the script is pretty cute, and it's a great date movie to watch with someone you hope will become your sweetie pie.