Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Chef Blu-ray Movie Review

I'll take seconds, please...

Chef is the kind of film Jon Favreau should serve up more often. In place of sprawling science fiction, we get an intimate passion project. In place of cutting edge visual effects, we get mouth-watering cuisine. In place of archetypes, we get living, breathing, wounded, recovering characters, not battling alien invasions or suiting up in high tech armor, but dealing with real problems, real struggles, and with real heart, soul and hunger for the things in life that matter most. Family. Children. Success, not financial, but legitimate success. The sort that allows a man to lay his head on his pillow and night and sleep soundly. Chef is simple but almost profound in its simplicity. It isn't a perfect film -- cameos are a bit too fun for their own good, Favreau's boys get all the best scenes (while the girls play support), the food critic angle is handled much more effectively in Ratatouille, and a too-neat, too-tidy bow wraps up the ending a little too prettily -- but it isn't a hastily strung strand of genre tropes either. The father-son relationship it depicts is a highlight rather than a manufactured tear-jerker, the conflict is born from believability rather than a screenwriter's keyboard, and the performances are fantastic. Like the best cuisine, Chef takes a few common, easily overlooked ingredients, brings them into balance with the touch of an impassioned master, and allows the flavor -- suddenly elevated and refined -- to speak for itself.

Chef Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Blu-ray release of Chef features an unassuming but utterly faithful 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that, though not exactly stunning, impresses with its adherence to Favreau and cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau's humble intentions. Colors are passive and subdued, almost to the point of being overly restrained at times. But the palette sells the illusion of reality, along the film's with soft, natural lighting, reserved primaries and occasionally dusty black levels. Detail, meanwhile, remains excellent throughout, with clean, well-defined edges, nicely resolved fine textures, and revealing close-ups. Contrast and clarity are consistent from start to finish, in fact, and there's nothing in the way of significant macroblocking, banding, aliasing, ringing, errant noise or crush to spoil the proceedings.

Chef Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Much the same could be said of Chef's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. The results just aren't as immediately appreciated. The film revels in understated realism and the sound design follows suit, delivering interiors and environments that are so real in sonic flash and function that the quality of the mix is easily overlooked. But listen closely. The quiet ambience of a high-class restaurant. The crowded streets of a bustling city. The buzz of a marketplace as Carl prepares his food truck. The excitement of a mob pressing in to sample the chef's latest Cuban creations. Directionality is precise and involving. Pans are wonderfully smooth. Dynamics are terrific. Dialogue is clear, intelligible and convincingly grounded. Prioritization is perfect. LFE output is assertive and enriching. And the entire soundfield is inviting and enveloping. It may not drop jaws, its finer traits may not be apparent to the casual listener, but Universal's lossless track excels nonetheless.

Chef Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary: Writer/director/actor Jon Favreau and co-producer/consulting chef Roy Choi deliver a unique commentary, dissecting the film and the featured food. Part behind-the-scenes tour, part Food Network how-to special, the track is engaging from start to finish, and the oft-times very personal passion that drove the project is most evident.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 11 minutes): Seven deleted scenes are available, though none of them are of much consequence. Scenes include "Farmer's Market," "Gauloises," "Versailles Lullaby," "Amy Sedaris Outtakes," "Cuban Coffee," "Second Line" and "First Fridays Setup."

Chef Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Chef is one of the tastier surprises from 2014, even if convention over-seasons the ending. Favreau is at his most minimalistic and yet delivers one of the finest films of his career, if not the most refined. The performances are outstanding as well, proving just how much can be accomplished by a group of filmmakers and actors who truly believe in every scene they're committing to the screen. Universal's Blu-ray release is impressive too, with an excellent AV presentation and small but welcome selection of supplements. Chef comes highly recommended.