Delicioso

This movie was a genuine pleasure to watch... in my book it ranks way up there with a few other movies that use food and cooking as the centerpiece around which the plot was built. Chef, The Hundred Foot Journey, The Big Night, Tortilla Soup, Babette's Feast, Burnt, Chocolat and Dinner Rush are the main ones that come to mind.

Delicious, and these others, stand out as exemplary stories... beautifully photographed, directed and acted.

The natural lighting used for interior scenes sets a very high standard for fellow cinematographers... The food looked so good I wanted to try "The Delicious" myself.

The directing was right up there with the work of Lasse Hallstrom.

And I will watch all day long the subtle acting of this fine ensemble cast... preferring it to the "obnoxious excess of personality" many actors bring to a role.

To sum it up............... incroyable !!!

Cinematography is the strongest aspect of this film. Some scenes look like paintings by Dutch Golden Age or Flemish Baroque artists. I had to pause several times to admire the tables tastefully laid with food. However, the main focus of the plot is not on food, like most of the reviewers seem to think. It shows the viewer why revolutions happen. Up until the rather stupid, highly unrealistic Hollywood-style happy ending. I guess the ending is the reason the film is listed as a comedy? Which it is not.

My Rating 9/10

I'm no expert on Foreign cinema but I know what I like and I liked Delicious very much .

I just judge any film in any language on my own test.

Just 3 criteria. : Was it well produced and enjoyable to watch ?

Was I interested in the characters and story.?

And were the performances convincing?

And this French film DÉLICIEUX (Delicious) gets a high score in each category from me.

Writer/director Éric Besnard's mouth-watering new historical comedy indelibly pairs Grégory Gadebois and Isabelle Carré as a gifted chef and his unlikely protégé, who must find the resolve to free themselves from servitude.

In 1789 France, just prior to the Revolution.

Very loosely based on true events because as my research informs me in reality, the first restaurant is generally considered to be Le Grande Taverne des Londres in Paris, which opened a handful years before Delicious is set. However it's refreshing to see a delightful film that imaginatively does a flavourful job of marrying an origin story of sorts with its French Revolution-adjacent historical context.

Delicious joins other films that feature gastronomical delights like Chocolat. Babette's Feast , Julie and Julia , Eat Drink Man Woman and No Reservations but it's more than just a foodie movie it's intelligent heart warming and very entertaining.

Delightful, pure, with great emotional payoff. I thoroughly enjoyed it. A take on aristocracy with French characteristics. Plus points for helping me improve my French listening.

Well shot, well acted, entertaining and will have you salivating. Please eat beforehand. Gets a bit ridiculous when going overboard with having LITERALLY EVERYTHING being invented by the two sidekicks, from menus to pommes frites to table service to desserts and cheese platters. But it's so engaging that it's easily overlooked.