Film Review: “Burnt” – High-class food gets the fast food treatment

Rating: 3 stars

Age Rating: 15

Director: John Wells

Screenplay by: Steven Knight

Staring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Omar Sy, Daniel Brühl

Runtime: 1hr 40mins

Take a recovering drug addict chef trying to redeem himself, add an ambitious, female sous-chef, drug dealers chasing a drug debt and up-close shots of intricate cooking and you’ve got a movie. Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller star in John Well’s new film, “Burnt”, an average drama with some comedy and romance, making it a let-down.

Adam Jones, played by Cooper, is a Michelin star chef (quite the asshole) whose drug abuse leads him to completely ruin his culinary career in Paris. Three years later, sober and having shucked a million oysters in New Orleans, Jones makes his way to London to redeem himself by earning his third Michelin star.

After recruiting a team of both old and new chefs and gay maître d’, Tony (who’s in love with Jones), the arrogant chef works, with the occasional break down, to re-earn his title in the culinary world.

Miller’s character, Helene, plays Cooper’s counterpart and love interest, a feisty, headstrong single mum who doesn’t take shit from anyone, not even her new boss. Cooper and Miller’s chemistry is kept alive from their time together in “American Sniper”, yet individually they bring their characters to life in the best way possible, despite a disappointing plot.

What this plot lacks is any climax. It feels too predictable; someone’s bound to hold a grudge, it’s never going to be smooth sailing. Helene’s daughter, Lily, plays a role of bringing out one of the only sweet moments in the film; Adam brings out a pink rose birthday cake for her, asks what she thinks and she says, “I’ve tasted better.” Well we’ve seen better.

The £13 million budget seems kind of wasted on a poor script from Steven Knight, but not on the all star cast that director, John Wells (previously known for “August: Osage County”), has managed to bring on board.

Along with Cooper and Miller, the film stars Omar Sy, Matthew Rhys, Uma Thurman and Emma Thompson. Lily James also has a cameo role in the film, but Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan’s part in the film was cut from the final version because of running time issues. But would that have made the film any better? We’ll never know.

Though delicate filming of food tries to make up for lack of interest, “Burnt” lives nowhere near the successes of 2014 foodie films; Jon Favreau’s “Chef” and “The Hundred-Foot Journey”, also written by Knight, with the heart-string pulling plot lines. Comparing Knight’s “Burnt” to his previous foodie script, his new piece cannot live up to his old, timeless work.