Awesome Movie

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

"Der Koch" is a German movie from 2014 that is also mostly in the German language, even if there are parts in other languages on rare occasions because of the diversity of the cast and portrayed characters. The director is Ralf Huettner, who is mostly known for "Vincent will Meer" and the two writers are Ruth Toma (screenplay) and Martin Suter (novel), who are both really prolific in their careers and have worked on pieces that left a lasting impression in the world of film as well, at least here in Germany. But today we are talking about this one here. The most known cast member for me is Jessica Schwarz and she also gave the best performance. There are actors from all kinds of regions actually in here, also outside of Europe and this includes (at least in terms of origin) Hamza Jeetooa, who is the male lead in here. I am not sure if he is lead actor material really. He may have been too weak at times to really carry the film with his performance. Sure Schwarz wasn't perfect either and she profits a lot from playing next to forgettable performers and characters, but especially next to the really weak Yrsa Daley-Ward she seemed like a revelation. So it is also not a surprise really that Schwarz's early erotic scene with Jeetooa is the highlight of the movie as it was done very tastefully and I also would call it inspiring. So maybe even if the food/sex story was a bit exaggerated at times, it was still better and more memorable than all the stuff about the central character's family and romance and the antagonist was also not too memorable. The final quote about how you can basically turn sweet into salty, but not evil into good was definitely a bit on the pretentious side. As a whole, I believe this 105-minute film (including credits) had too many weaknesses, lengths and uninteresting parts to really make a difference or live up to the premise. I have not read the book it is based on, so no idea if the problem is the original work or the script here. Probably a mix of all this and add in the forgettable performances too. The ending was also nothing special at all and really more on the showy side (the death) and the try-hard side (the very ending) than in any way impactful or poetic or touching. I give "The Cook" a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

Or maybe it's just a 69 foot journey? If you've seen the movie, you'll understand what I mean. Though I wouldn't compare it to the Lasse H. movie (or book it is based on), this does have a cook who seems not to get the credit he is due. The journey he takes and the reason he has to get money are totally different from that other story too.The drama and the story seem a bit off and the multi-language deal it has going on (switching between them, sometimes having subtitles, because German spoken by swiss people is different sounding), might put people off. If not than you're in for a weird drama, about food "spicing" that goes all the way (and beyond). It tries hard to avoid clichés (which works most of the time) and has a nice flow to it. But to make this really delicious, one (secret) ingredient is missing ...

This movie is based on a novel by bestselling Swiss author Martin Suter. Since I've been too lazy to read the full book, I went to see the movie.The story is this: Maravan, a charming young immigrant from Sri Lanka works in Zurich as a sous-chef, but dreams of opening his own restaurant where traditional Indian kitchen, as his grandmother taught it to him, crosses over with avant-garde "molecular kitchen". Turns out his creations are highly aphrodisiatic, so much so that when he casually invites his colleague Andrea (Jessica Schwarz) over she ends up seducing him, even though he's pretty conservative and believes in arranged marriage and she's actually a lesbian. While the two are getting their business started, Maravan's cousin returns to his homeland and is recruited by the underground army / terrorists / freedom fighters Tamil Tigers. Marvan tries to bail him out, but also discovers that one of his clients, the superseedy Dalmann, is actually an arms dealer -- to the Tamil Tigers! Oh, and he's also sleeping with the girlfriend of Andrea, who's a lesbian and a prostitute (for men). At the same time, Maravan's nan is ill and has to come to Zurich for treatment, and the toothsome Sandana, with whom he was arranged to be married but who gave gave him the cold shoulder, seems not averse to rekindling the flame ...In short, it's a very tall story, and the movie simply wants to do too much all at the same time. After about 20 minutes I was close to walking out of the cinema when Andrea tells Maravan that she slept with him "... although I'm a lesbian! Do you know what that means? I only sleep with women!" (that's how I remember that line). At this point the movie is just incredibly hammy and corny. It recovers a little bit after that, but it was still hard to sit through to the end. It's a little bit Lasse Hallström, a little bit of harmless culture clash comedy (where all the male Swiss characters are of course evil toupet-wearing reactionaries) with a healthy dose of James Bond thrown in for good measure (I won't tell more so as to not to spoil the plot for you). To round it off, the version I saw was dubbed so that everyone in Zurich speaks upper German, which is like seeing a Western where the cattle rustler addresses the Sheriff thus: "Cheerio, constable! I challenge you to a spot of fisticuffs, whencefor I implore you to access your sidearm!".To me, this was another highly funded, highly well-meaning, but also highly middle-of-the-road movies. One which sells well to the sponsors but lacks vision and bores the viewer.