Burnt (M) 3.5 stars
Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) is a chef who had just about everything in Paris – two Michelin stars, professional respect, success – but blew it all in a mess of sex, booze, drugs, betrayals and other self-destructive behaviour. Now, after a self-imposed penance shucking 1 million oysters, he goes to London to try to re-establish his career and gain a third Michelin star without falling back to pieces in the process.
Cooper is good as the bad-boy chef who manages to be likeably vulnerable, for the most part, even when he's engaging in sometimes cruel and manipulative behaviour – you can understand the stakes and the stress. It probably helps that many of the characters are also pretty nasty, including the food critic (Uma Thurman) he once had a fling with and the rival chef (Richard Rankin) who envies his talent. But there are sympathetic figures too, like the hotel owner's son played by Daniel Bruhl who gives Adam a chance for old time's sake and possibly for other reasons. The script might be a bit much occasionally and some actors, like Emma Thompson as the doctor, seem wasted in their parts but overall this goes down nicely.
The only extra is a good one, an interesting commentary by director John Wells and the chef who served as consultant on the film and designed the impressive-looking dishes we see cooked.
Ron Cerabona