Recently I decided that I wanted to take advantage of the many foreign film festivals that run here so I have decided that I want to see at least one film from each festival. For some festivals that can be enough, for others it is difficult to narrow down to just one film.
When the Italian International Film festival was running, there were two films that I wanted to see. One was called Breaking Up in Rome and the other was this film. In the end, I was only able to watch this one, but it was really good.
Carmine is a member of a Camorra, a crime syndicate based in Naples. Problem is that he is really too nice to be involved in that life. After he messes up one too many times, his godfather (who is also the head of the syndicate ) gives him one last chance. Pasquale is sending him to front a money laundering operation. Carmine is to run a restaurant, the syndicate sends cash to him, he makes it look like it comes from the restaurant and the money is now clean.
Whilst the restaurant is supposed to be just a front, heating up frozen food, it doesn't take Carmine long to want to do it better. That is especially true once he meets Consuela, the chef at the previous restaurant that was located in the premises. Consuela is a great cook, talented, tempestous and determined. But she hasn't yet managed to crack the big time. Technically, she has all the skills, but it seems that her food lacks heart.
When Carmine agrees to refurbish the restaurant and let Consuela run it her way, it isn't long before he finds himself needing to dip into the money that he is currently cleaning, and that is never going to end well.
With Carmine having too much heart to be part of the gangster world, and Consuela not having enough, can their partnership bring them both what they want?
There are a plethora of movies out there which follow a fairly familiar formula - temperamental chef has to start again and meets their love - queue a bit of comedy, a bit of romance, and lots of great looking food. The Perfect Dinner certainly has lots of those elements, but it is sufficiently different to mean that it doesn't feel the same. It is marketed as a dramedy and it is a gangster film so you do have to take that into consideration when deciding if it is a movie for you, but it was funny and foodie and we enjoyed it.
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I always enjoy the foreign film festivals and we have a big season in Miami. The Perfect Dinner looks good to me. I'll check it out. thanks
ReplyDeleteI liked it Judee!
DeleteHmmm....always looking for a good foodie film!
ReplyDeleteMe too Debra!
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