Bradley Cooper stars as a chef on a mission of redemption, in Director John Wells latest feature “Burnt”. Chef Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) had it all and lost it. The former Van Gogh of the Paris restaurant scene had earned two Michelin stars and only ever cared about the thrill of creating explosions of taste. To land his own kitchen and that third elusive star though, Jones will need to leave his bad habits behind and get the best of the best on his side, including the young prodigy Helene (Sienna Miller). With the right cooks in tow, Jones can finally reach the pinnacle of a prestige that has alluded him for his cullinary career. “Burnt” offers up some wonderful side dishes that i didn’t really expect in a movie like this. Where it plunges is in it’s desire to be a seven course meal, when it is nothing more than an appetizer to the recently loaded genre of cooking dramas.

The movie really enjoys rich tastes in it’s cinematography which showcases the soft but luxurious colors and surroundings of the London restaurant scene. The camera action presents us with some nice crisp angles of real culinary work being done by the actors of the film. What’s greatly impressive is that all of the actors prepared their foods while being surrounded by the dangers of a real kitchen. With a mixture of real life chefs and actors, the pressure was on for the actors to keep up cut to cut with their counterparts. There’s a real sense of kitchen conversations and outbursts happening in the film, including a plate smashing scene by Cooper, which i thought was the very best scene of the movie. The film certainly creates enough of these tension filled moments to keep it’s audience on their toes. It’s not done quite as sharp, but there were reflections of my favorite film of 2014 (Whiplash) for these nail biting scenes, where the crew is doing their best to please Cooper. The film’s narrative could’ve been a little clear and stayed on it’s feet. Most of the film’s run time focuses on it’s main protagonist, and between redemption, kitchen work, drug dealers chasing him, a rival chef across town who is gaining fame, and a shoehorned love angle with Miller, the film feels overstuffed with missteps by pointless drama that only took away from the real meat of the film. A lot of these characters are introduced, but then quickly lost in the shuffle of the many happenings in Cooper’s life and surroundings. It all results in a third act where the audience is supposed to believe that these characters have grown as a family, when in all reality we have only been presented the angry moments of Cooper’s demeanor up to this point.

The movie has a lot of great up and coming actors, including Daniel Bruel and Alicia Vikander, as well as A-list cameos by Emma Thompson and Uma Thurman. Most of these are one scene appearances, and that’s unfortunate because we never really find a character to gravitate to. Bradley Cooper is great in his role as an arrogant perfectionist, but almost TOO great. The biggest problem that I found with his character is that he does so much damage to the people around him trying to etch his name in the history books, and all he can do is disrespect them time after time. It’s understandable what the screenplay is trying to showcase here with Cooper, and how cooking is more than just a passion for him, it’s an obsession. But more times than not i was rooting for the character to fail, and this is a big problem with a movie that wants us to spend 95 minutes with this dreadful muck. I mentioned earlier about the shoehorned love story between Cooper and Miller, and it just doesn’t feel truthful to the presentation. There are only two scenes where the characters are actually romantically linked, but then the movie just kind of forgets about it for the telegraphed screenplay that happens in the third act. The film doesn’t do the best job of telling us that life is about much more than what’s outside of the job, and that is where it struggles with finding it’s own kind of spirit, like culinary classics such as “Chef” or “Big Night”.

Overall, “Burnt” is appropriate for it’s title. It’s an overcooked piece of meat that could’ve been substantial had it not spent so long under the heat lamps. It’s too dry and unsavory for what kind of film it really wants to be. I greatly enjoyed the film’s opening act, as it sets the precedent for the kind of steps that this man takes to get back on top. But to spend 95 minutes with this character and this screenplay, will have you yelling for the check with the first chance you get.

5/10