ShowBiz Forum - messages #22535 .1

Prospero Blocks

Hot Celebrity Searches

'Grey's Anatomy'

Patrick Dempsey

'American Idol'

Sarah Jessica Parker

More Hot Searches

Chat Center

	Hot Movies Topic: Hot Movies
	The Drive-In Topic: The Drive-In

Board Folders

	Ask the Experts 1376 msgs in 79 dscns Latest: 5/5/09
	Industry News/... 5650 msgs in -132 dscns Latest: Nov-16
	Weekly ShowBiz... 4474 msgs in -101 dscns Latest: Nov-19
	Celebrity News... 11024 msgs in 550 dscns Latest: Nov-19
	TV/Movie Celebs 1961 msgs in 168 dscns Latest: Oct-10
	Music/Other Ce... 1316 msgs in 87 dscns Latest: Sep-14
	You Decide: Ho... 1322 msgs in 110 dscns Latest: Oct-18
	Movie Talk 6173 msgs in -71 dscns Latest: Nov-11
	Harvey Karten'... 2106 msgs in 803 dscns Latest: Nov-19
	World of Enter... 814 msgs in 121 dscns Latest: 9/18/08
	Home Video/DVD 1358 msgs in 234 dscns Latest: Oct-20
	Screenwriting 220 msgs in 31 dscns Latest: 5/10/07
	Theater & Music 834 msgs in 233 dscns Latest: Nov-18
	The Green Room 9445 msgs in 567 dscns Latest: Jun-2

Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: No Reservations

Print Discussion

#1 of 1 Posted 7/21/07 11:07 PM

From Harveycritic Posts 1632 Last Nov-2
To All [Msg # 22535.1 ]

NO RESERVATIONS

Reviewed for CompuServe by Harvey S. Karten
Warner Bros./Castle Rock/Village Roadshow
Grade: B
Directed by: Scott Hicks
Written By: Carol Fuchs, from the “Mostly Martha” script of Sandra Nettelbeck
Cast: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin, Bob Balaban, Jenny Wade, Brian F.
O'Byrne, Patricia Clarkson
Screened at: AMC Empire, NYC, 7/21/07
Opens: July 27, 2007

Scott Hicks’s “No Reservations” has a few messages. One is that every little girl needs an adult male model in the house, especially if he’s funny, handsome, and have lots of hair. Another is that little girls would rather have spaghetti and pizza than quail and truffles. Still another is that life is unpredictable (even if this movie certainly is). If these tidbits are presented within a harmless movie, then credit “No Reservations,” script by Carol Fuchs based on Sandra Nettelbeck’s screenplay for the 2002 German movie “Mostly Martha,” with lush production values and scenes of an upscale restaurant kitchen with cooks more charming than those encountered in Brad Bird’s “Ratatouille.”

Director Hicks, known for more serious fare like “Snow Falling on Cedars,” which involves the childhood love affair of a local newspaperman and the wife of a Japanese-American fisherman accused of murder; and “Shine,” about an Australian pianist who has a breakdown; now handles the growing love of an anal-retentive woman with a free-spirited man. The story is virtually a copy of Sandra Nettelbeck's 2002 German-language picture "Mostly Martha," German title “Drei sterne (Three Stars). Reviewing that one, I had said, "‘Mostly Martha' retains a seriousness of purpose lacking in the adolescent American laugh-fests of late." So it is with this American film, a romance with comic undertones done for an adult audience, particularly for those appreciate gourmet dining.

The restaurant, which serves as a character in the story, has been re-located from Hamburg, Germany, to Bleecker Street in New York’s Greenwich Village. When the sister of chef Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is killed in a car accident, Kate, who has never had a long-term relationship, much less a child, takes custody of her nine-year-old niece, Zoe (Abigail Breslin). Mourning the loss of her mom and refusing to eat the fancy dishes prepared for her by Kate, Zoe’s life and that of her new mom change after Paula (Patricia Clarkson) hires the Italian-trained Nick (Aaron Eckhart) as sous chef ( for those who regularly dine under the arches, that means just under the executive chef). The two battle not only because their basic personalities are so different but because Kate becomes increasingly envious of Nick’s popularity with the patrons. The film’s trajectory is clear from the beginning, as we can imagine that Nick and Kate will not argue right down to the conclusion and Zoe will not starve to death mourning her mother’s death.

Since neither chef weighs three hundred pounds, one could say that strictly speaking they’re both miscast. It’s difficult for an audience to accept Mr. Eckhart in such a jovial role when we know him only from far more biting and cynical fare like Neil LaBute’s “In the Company of Men,” in which his character, Chad, is determined to ruin the life of an innocent woman; and my favorite movie of 2005, Jason Reitman’s “Thank You for Smoking,” wherein he is the chief spokesman for the tobacco industry, bragging about how more people he has killed than his lobbyist friends from the gun and the alcohol sectors. Philip Glass’s music is mostly absent in favor of Italian opera and some bouncy, feel-good pop tunes.

Photographer Stuart Dryburgh films a drop-dead brownstone that might seem beyond the budget of a chef and the interior of a sophisticated Manhattan restaurant. (Zeta-Jones spent a month actually serving in the upscale Fiamma Osteria on Spring Street where some patrons remarked, “You look exactly like...” to which she replied, “I get that all the time.”) Abigail Breslin, with seventeen films and TV episodes to her credit, has by now emerged as a leading child actress, featured here as a kid both mournful and spoiled and in “Little Miss Sunshine” as a contestant in a small-fry beauty contest. Bob Balaban is charming as always, with his signature round glasses in the role of a psychotherapist who during one appointment where he enjoys an entree cooked by Zeta-Jones should be paying her the $300 for the hour.

Rated PG. 103 minutes © 2007 by Harvey Karten Member: NY Film Critics Online

Print Discussion

Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: No Reservations

Adjust text size:

Interest level:

Welcome, Guest

• Post a message

• New messages to you

Find messages


Advanced Search

Prospero Blocks

	Web Offers • Find: Astrology Chart
• Cosmetic Surgery
• Madonna's Music
• Kelly Clarkson
• Angelina Jolie
• Tom Cruise

Special Offers
Show me more info on:

Finding People

• Find a Date

• White Pages

• Reverse Lookup

• Cell Phone Numbers

• Unlisted Numbers

• E-mail Addresses

• Background Checks

• People Finder

• Fine Old Friends

• Family Tree

Cool Clicks!

• Unclaimed Cash

• Free Cell Phones

• Energy Boost

• Party Planning

• Photo Sharing

• Work From Home

• Video Games

• BloggingStocks

• Horoscope Updates

• Adult (18 & Over)

© 2009 CompuServe Interactive Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Legal Notices | Privacy Policy