Dir. James Hacking, 89 mins, UK, 2011
Cast. Dougray Scott, Claire Forlani, Michelle Ryan, Simon Callow, Peter Bowles
Review by Michelle Moore
Love’s Kitchen is a beautiful, sentimental and romantic film about stirring up love in the kitchen.
Rob Haley (Scott) is an up-and-coming chef with a good team around him. However, when his wife is killed in a car accident, his love and passion for food die with her. After encouragement from his friend, Chef Gordon Ramsay, Rob starts turning his life around, getting the team back together and starts turning a run-down pub in the tranquil countryside into a gourmet restaurant.
His food tickles the taste buds of American food critic Kate (Forlani), and the two soon begin to bond over knife techniques, trifle (of which Rob creates as a masterpiece) and Rob’s daughter.
One of the best things about this movie is its straightforward script. It has a little romance and some emotive downsides, however besides a Hell’s Angel on wheels and a quick car chase to the edge of town, there is not much in the way of action, suspense or drama present.
Everything flows quite easily and steadily, tranquil like the trickle of a countryside river with no major speed bumps or rapids to liven things up, which the movie could have done with more of. The setting of the movie is perfect. When you think of a typical British movie about food, this is exactly what comes to mind; a country pub with good food. The food is often described by the characters as ‘real food with real heart’ and by the amount of passion put into it, it certainly appears to have some heart.
The beautiful Claire Forlani with an American accent is not one of the movies finest points – that goes to the appearance of the food. Considering she is an English actress and starring in an English movie it seemed a little odd to have her with an American accent, maybe it would have made more sense to have an actual American actress. Having said that, she is as amazing as always as she fights for her love of food and Rob.
Leading man Scott is perfect in his role and his Scottish accent makes things even more romantic. Of course, no food-based movie would be complete without an appearance of Gordon Ramsay. He may only be in the movie for a few minutes, but it is his harsh words of wisdom that make Rob realise what has been missing in his life.
There may not be much action or drama within Love’s Kitchen, but there is romance and a love for food, which is the prefect combination in this movie. Now after all that talk of trifle, it’s off to the kitchen!
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