The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

With the kids staying overnight with their grandparents this week, Namita and I went out on a Thursday night to the Menlo Park Mall to see The Hundred-Foot Journey. We could have seen it closer to our home, but Menlo has the nearby AMC Dine-In Theaters Menlo Park 12 theater. It’s bar food quality, but one can eat, drink, and watch a movie at the same time. Also, one can also reserve your seats ahead of time. It’s win-win. The theater wasn’t packed for this film, so seating wasn’t a problem anyway. I took a cab from Metropark Station to the mall, met my wife, sat in our seats, ordered our food, and waited for the film to begin.

The Hundred-Foot Journey stars Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, and Charlotte Le Bon. The Kadam family escaped from political upheaval in India, makes their way to Europe, until finally crashing their way into a sleepy French town. The patriarch, played by the fantastic Om Puri, decides they will end their nomadic lifestyle, and settle down in this little town. Furthermore, they will open their own Indian restaurant (“Maison Mumbai”) within the town. Unfortunately, the town is well known for being the home of a famous high-class French restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren.) There is a competition for the hearts, minds, and stomachs of the townspeople. Meanwhile, an illicit romance brews between members of both restaurants.

This was a decent film, but it’s light fare. There’s no hard hitting story, the plot is somewhat predictable, and I thought the story was a bit corny in a few places. Lastly, I found the 3rd and final act a little trite, in that it seemed both predictable in story and resolution. How trite? Well, during some portions of the film, at times, I noted similarities to Pixar’s 2007 animated film Ratatouille. Yeah, no kidding.

Does this make it a bad film? No, as I said, it’s a decent but light film. It’s a simple and easy way to pass the time, with some nice performances from Helen Mirren and Om Puri, and also the supporting cast. Eat your dinner, drink a little, sit next to your pretty wife (or husband), and enjoy your date night, I say.

The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

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