Om Puri takes the cake and Helen Mirren cooks up a French accent in The Hundred-Foot Journey
THE Hundred-Foot Journey: Acclaimed actress Helen Mirren cooks up a storm, but it’s another veteran that takes the cake in this serving of feel-good fare.
Leigh Paatsch
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COMFORT food as a comforting movie? There could be worse things wafting into your local cinema.
In fact, The Hundred-Foot Journey is that rare serving of feel-good fare that keeps improving as its familiar ingredients settle and, gradually, subtler, unexpected flavours rise to the fore.
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Early on, it’s a soft and sunny tale of two rival restaurants separated by a stone’s throw in a picture-book-pretty French village in the Pyrenees.
The first is a posh joint run by the imperious Madam Mallory (Helen Mirren).
Le Saule Pleurer (roughly translated as “The Weeping Willow”) has held a prestigious Michelin Star rating for three decades.
Only the best staff in the business are permitted to set foot inside its kitchen.
Meanwhile, directly across a quiet provincial lane is Maison Mumbai, a traditional Indian family eatery run by newly arrived immigrants. Though yet to forge its reputation, its doors are open to one and all.
Its crafty proprietor, Papa Kadam (Om Puri) is every bit as much a stickler for detail as Madame Mallory, but is unafraid to play the showman to drum up further cashflow.
Under the steady direction of Lasse Hallstrom (Chocolat), this delightful tale (based on the bestseller by Richard C. Morais) takes a turn for the better once the head chef of one establishment crosses the lane and sides with the enemy.
The culinary craft on display is indeed mouth-watering, but it is the film’s winning collection of wonderful characters that will truly satisfy all tastes.
Performances are appropriately appealing right across the impressive ensemble cast hand-picked by Hallstrom in conjunction with executive producers Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey.
Particularly of note is the colourful work of the charismatic veteran Indian actor Om Puri. To walk away with a Helen Mirren movie despite the best efforts of the woman herself really takes some doing.
The Hundred-Foot Journey (PG)
Director: Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules)
Starring: Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon
Verdict: Three stars. Spreading the seeds of dish content
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