Chef (2014)

Many critics have written this film off as a cute but predictable treat where the character quirks are enough “seasoning” to keep things interesting. While I will agree that it isn't particularly significant or profound, I do think there is a little more to it than just a feel-good father/son story. Like 8 ½ and Nymphomaniac, this is a film about its own creation. This isn't a situation where Jon Favreau got his groove back on a different film and made this film to tell us about how he got his groove back. This film is literally watching that happen. When he wrote it he had no guarantee that he would be successful. This film could have been just as lifeless as Iron Man 2 or Cowboys & Aliens. But just like Chef Carl in the film, once unencumbered by a stifling studio/owner, Favreau was able to flourish. He was also able to indulge some of the impulses that studio filmmaking tends to drive out. On a studio film he couldn't have had all the swearing around the kid, budgeting would have surely ruled out shooting in so many diverse locals and even the start and stop structuring would have been jettisoned in favor of something more streamline. Hopefully he’s at least able to bring some of this energy to his next film because when the studio is Disney and the property at play is The Jungle Book, you know they’re gonna want to secure their investment by making things as generic as possible. Let’s pray that his payday will be big enough to fund a small, personal film afterwards.