No Reservations DVD Review

As much as it is a shame that most Americans will not be likely to ever see the German film Mostly Martha, I suppose the next best thing is the Hollywood remake which has become far too commonplace as of late. It would be easy to complain about the lack of creativity in developing original ideas, but once No Reservations begins none of my words will matter. The casting is sublime, the story is delightful, the treatment of food is delectable and the enjoyable remake quickly takes a life of its own with plenty of chemistry. The chemistry which is most important in the film isn’t the expected relationship between the master chef and the sous chef, but instead it is the chemistry between the chef and her newly orphaned niece.

Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones) has her life completely under control, besides an ultra-controlling nature in the kitchen she cooks in. She works as the master chef in an upscale Restaurant in Manhattan, but the loss of her sister in a car wreck along with some staff changes in her kitchen threaten to alter Kate’s lifestyle. Kate is forced to fit her niece (Abigail Breslin) into her life as the legal guardian after her sister’s death, and she is also has to make room for a wildly enigmatic sous chef (Aaron Eckhart) who comes from an Italian cooking background and loves opera in the kitchen. Finally Kate realizes that the key is combining the two problems, and after a few visits to the kitchen the three of them form a bond of cooking, which turns into a healing process for all three of them as well.

Eckhart and Zeta-Jones are likeable and enjoyable to watch in this film that is filled with great casting from lead to minor supporting roles. Bob Balaban is cast in his typical character role as the therapist, and also Kate’s outlet for dish experimentation, and he is one of the many enjoyable additions to the otherwise unsurprising film. No Reservations couldn’t really be much more predictable, but it is also endearingly heartwarming and enjoyable.

The DVD has a slightly untraditional special feature due to the elegant and enjoyable way that food is presented in this film. It was a segment from the Food Network television show “Unwrapped”, and now it is added onto the DVD as a special feature. This is all there is on the DVD, perhaps due to the fact that both widescreen and full-screen versions are offered on one side of the DVD.