Dir. Scott Hicks, 2007, US, 103 mins
Cast: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Bob Balaban, Abigail Breslin
Genre: Romance / Comedy
Review by Matthew Rodgers
It’s a case of new romantic comedy release, same old menu in this sickly sweet remake of 2001 German romp Mostly Martha.
Asked to buy into an idea that is hard to swallow from the start, Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Kate who is “one of the best chefs in the city” and lives alone in a plush apartment, running a thriving kitchen but has no life outside of the restaurant and sees therapist Bob Balaban (Lady in the Water) for very minor reasons that are not evident during the brief running time. Oh woe is she; her major dilemma in life is how to co-ordinate 40 dishes until the death of her sister lands her with the responsibility of caring for her orphaned sprog Zoe, played by Little Miss Sunshine herself Abigail Breslin.
There is literally nothing original included in No Reservations ingredients. All of the plot strands are well past their sell-by-date – frosty woman has heart melted by carefree new man in her life. Check. Non-maternal career woman experiences vaguely amusing situations with difficult child. Check. And arriving so soon after the similarly themed and far superior The Waitress the technique of using culinary dishes as metaphors for life also seem stale, especially when delivered with seemingly little enthusiasm from Zeta-Jones.
The former Darling Bud of May struggles to convince that she has any presence as the stressed chef and any fits of Gordon Ramsey-esqe anger manifest as petulance making it very hard to feel any sympathy for her character, it’s a far cry from the critically acclaimed heady days of Traffic for Mrs. Douglas. Eckhart however is extremely likeable playing an identikit role to his one in Erin Brokovich but is just too perfect it’s cloying; his scenes with the hugely talented Breslin do provide the films few stand-out moments as he gets her to emerge from her grief through the power of pasta. I'ts testament to the young Academy Award nominee that her appearances on screen signal an upturn in enjoyment of events in this overcooked dramedy.
Not even a Phillip Glass soundtrack (Kundun, The Hours) can liven up proceedings; have sympathy for a composer asked to score a pillow-fight and the activities of a lifeless kitchen that surely defies all reality by being the smoothest running, incident free workplace imaginable, there isn’t a hint of Hell’s Kitchen in the sterile surroundings.
No Reservations is one of those films during which you know where it’s going from the very first scene and even as a desperate last minute date movie there’s very little enjoyment getting there. A feel-good movie that makes you feel everything but.
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