BURNT

Bradley Cooper     Sienna Miller     Daniel Brühl     Omar Sy     Emma Thompson     Uma Thurman     Alicia Vikander

          A chef with a sordid past shows up in New Orleans being as obnoxious as he used to be in the kitchen.  However, he has at least shaken the destructive addictions that got him into trouble and has done self prescribed penance by shucking one million oysters.  Now, he is ready to begin again—in London.  When he gets there, Adam Jones (Cooper) gradually meets up with a number of colleagues from the past, but no one is pleased to see him because of the dastardly things he had done to them.    Nevertheless, (the man has grit) he starts to recruit the very people he had wronged.  It won’t be an easy road and he still has things to learn, but his reputation as a chef and his charm (when he turns it on)—and sometimes behind-the-scenes manipulation—will get him the people he wants in a restaurant that needs rescuing.

         Burnt is a good title for the film as a metaphor referring to a mistake in the kitchen, to friends and colleagues feeling burnt by Adam, and burning one’s bridges before an exit.  The film is about the ups and downs of getting the restaurant, “Adam Jones at The Langham”, on its feet and Adam’s try for a third Michelin star.  Unfortunately, he yells at his staff, is rude with everyone, and has temper tantrums when things aren’t perfect, running the risk of losing valuable employees.  (This over-the-top violent interaction reminds me of Director John Wells’ August:  Osage County of last year.)  But Adam sees a therapist (Thompson) and tentatively starts a supportive friendship to get his self on a better, less destructive track. 

        One of the things I find very frustrating in “food” movies is that we don’t really get to look at the gorgeous dishes prepared.  Isn’t that part of the point in seeing a movie about gourmet restaurants?  The editing of this film by Nick Moore is so jerky we never get to admire the artful dishes that someone has slaved over; and the rapid cuts from one scene to the next and zipping back and forth between two characters’ simultaneous actions can have a dizzying effect.  It may be that the filmmakers are interested in showing us what really goes on in high-end restaurants—a lot of yelling and throwing dishes across the room and at people—but I for one can just as well do without that side of reality, if it is indeed a reflection of reality.

        Bradley Cooper does bring his acting skills to the character, but the script makes him so repulsive, it’s hard to warm up to him.  Adam does become more insightful and respectful of others across time and lets go of some perfectionism, but watching that much narcissism unleashed for most of the film is tiresome.  The characters played by Sienna Miller and Daniel Brühl provide good counterbalance to Adam’s abrasiveness, and they are well cast.  Likewise, Uma Thurman and Emma Thompson bring extra sparks to their cameos.  Another cameo by Alicia Vikander is perfect as a woman who appears to be mysterious at first, but whose identity is gratifyingly explained. 

        Somehow, despite all the talent involved in the making of this film, Burnt just doesn’t fill the appetite.

Burnt:  Not a well seared production.

Grade:  C-        By Donna R. Copeland

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Meryl Streep     Julia Roberts     Chris Cooper     Margo Martindale     Ewan McGregor     Sam Shepard 

Julianne Nicholson     Benedict Cumberbatch     Juliette Lewis     Abigail Breslin

       August:  Osage County is a rip roarin’ study of a family in Oklahoma that is perpetually on a tinderbox.  The slightest disagreement can erupt into a major battle, and the only way they see to keep the lid on is to hide all their secrets.  Of course, this is a strategy that always fails, but like the good neurotics they are, they keep using it, thinking it will work.  As the story proceeds, we learn that the cruel parenting we witness stems from troubled childhoods, and we see it spread like an infection from parent to child across generations.  As each secret is uncovered, it has an explosive effect on all involved.

     On a more elegant note, the ensemble cast is a study in streamlined acting that continually hums along as if they had worked together for years and filled out every detail.  At the center of the story—and the cast—is the consummate award-winning actress Meryl Streep, who plays the damaged matriarch in a family with three grown daughters who have come home to “comfort” their mother after a crisis.  Her sister is present as well, with her husband and son in tow.  Present as well is the recently hired cook/housekeeper who is a beacon of sanity in the dysfunctional, turbulent group.

     The screenwriter Tracy Letts (Killer Joe) has based the script on his play with the same title, which premiered on Broadway in 2008.  The transition from stage to screen is not always smooth, but Letts has achieved it without a hitch.  Most of the action takes place in the family home, a beautifully landscaped colonial mansion in the countryside near a lake, or in the cars of the arriving family members.  Clues about the underlying conflicts are seen from the beginning in the interactions between Violet (Streep) and her husband Beverly (Sam Shepard), followed by the arriving sister Mattie (Margo Martindale) and husband Charles (Chris Cooper) and each of the daughters’ families.  In the process of the unfolding drama, the viewer experiences the trapped feeling that each of the characters suffers from; at one point, a character says to another who is running away, “Where are you going?  There is no place to go!”  And we feel trapped as well because the action is so powerful.  Also because, in a larger sense, we identify with the fact that we are always a part of the family to which we belong; there is not ever, really, any escape. 

     John Wells, the director, has performed his function of creating a work of art from all the components of the film, with the actors and other crew, such as the cinematographer Adriano Goldman and musician Gustavo Santaolalla, whose work illuminates the ongoing drama. 

Clearly August:  Osage Country will be prominent in the upcoming award circuit soon to take place.

Grade:  A                                   By Donna R. Copeland