Now streaming on HBOMax
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Wouldn’t the film-appropriate price be a lot higher? Or is it supposed to be the cost of the burger the chef made when he worked flipping them?
Thoroughly enjoyed the first third of the movie mocking/skewering the whole idea of fine dining and those who participate in it. The second third was alright but the passard egg was quite funny. The third act totally lost me. My wife hated the whole thing.
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RE Price:
In the film, that was the negotiated price.
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It wasn’t quite what I expected… but I liked it all the way through. It moved at a good clip…wasn’t too gratudious… There were some plot holes (If Tyler knew they were all going to die and there was no cell service - no 'Gram uploads… why was he still taking photos. A reflex I suppose) but it was a piece on obsession. We trust our chefs with so much already… we just mentioned a place in the South Bay serving raw chicken and on reddit, raw pork in Germany… To what lengths will we go for Sergio next…
Margo was essentially 100% Food for Fuel person… Not part of the ‘culture’ which gave rise to the type of chefy culture so that is why she was able to escape.
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Oh, I totally forgot about that. In the two days since I saw it.
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Finally watched it…
Me too. Especially, since I was recently served the Red Fife Sourdough in collaboration with the Tehachapi Grain Project at Providence… and criticized it. We should all be shot!
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i would love to hear more commentary from Dominique Crenn on the actual menu… such precision in the skewering!
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In terms of skewering foodie culture I thought the movie was pretty on point. Reminded me a lot of my recent Kato dining experience except without the murder.
As a movie it was ok - worth what I paid.
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a food influencer character (a la @chrishei) trying to shakedown the chef for free food would have been great.
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lol. It had a different “Do you know who I am” scene… lol… I also loved that photo with the “investor” The dude looked like he had just bagged a rainbow polar bear or something… And Chef looked like said dead bear…
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Right on cue:
But how would u propose the influencer be killed off? Same fate as others or a special fate?
@chrishei @JLee
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@SteveR just mentioned this movie again which made me realize I had missed this thread on its inception. I saw the movie over the Thanksgiving Weekend, where my partner and I were the sole occupants of the theater. (An underrated experience. I recommend it.) We both LOVED the film, and it’s come up as a point of reference for us a few times since.
What I have yet to see, either here or on HO, is a discussion of (one of) the main, obvious points of the film: the skewering of ‘foodie’ culture. The language, the rarefied ingredients, the stories that seemingly MUST accompany these high priced meals. Clearly, the movie comes down fairly solidly on calling ‘bullshit’ on that sort of thing.
If you compare the increasingly non-hunger-abating courses of Hawthorne with the straightforward “it tastes good and satisfies my caloric need” of the final cheeseburger, then… what’s the film’s point? That cooking (as a service) should be about fulfilling nutritional and ‘taste’ requirements and stop pretending to be ‘more?’
Is ‘food as art’, (good Alinea or bad Bros ) inherently undesirable and elitist? Is it a moral crime to blow upwards of $1000 on a single meal when thousands in the same country go to bed hungry?
That seems like an awful big lift for something like this, and I don’t know that the film really is up to that task. But maybe the food was just the gateway symbol into the broader ‘people who serve’ vs. ‘people who take’ point, and I’m getting too hung up on the metaphor.
I know that I really liked the film, and if I had HBO Max I’d probably watch it again. I might even get the Blu Ray once that rolls around.
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I’m a fan of absurdist parody type movies, skewering aspects of our almost out of control (obviously my opinion) society(ies). I loved “Mars Attacks” & “Don’t Look Up”, flaws & all. Similarly, I really liked “The Menu”. Yeah, I’m not sure what their overarching intended point was, but I took it as a way to poke fun on how our culture has now made a mockery of what was once genuine concern over sourcing, culinary skill & enjoyment of cooking/dining. Hopefully, like with the other films that I’ve liked, it serves as a way to reflect upon the excesses & stupidity, while not throwing everything good out the window. All while keeping me laughing.
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the mention of Tehachapi Grain Project slayed me. It was my “I know what a pacojet is” moment.
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HA! That was my Captain America Moment too… BTW… Their Tortillas are pretty awesome and you can get them at Standings.
As to @lectroid comments about the main point of the film, I don’t think Foodies were the direct target. I think obsession was. Foodies are hardly the only ones who worship upon ‘creators’. Further there was a reason why They all had to die and did die.. A restaurant and high exalted chef in this world an only exist with… Investors believing in their vision (and wanting to collect chef and then throw their weight around.), Regulars who sustain the business, The big spenders who you turn profit on and of course the wannabes who bring the sense of awe to the place. There was a reason the regular didn’t remember the dishes prior. The big spenders demanded the bread. The wannabe dies by command. The restaurant needs these guests as much as it needed its ingredients, the chef and staff. They were also elemental to the Hawthorne. This is why they were included in the grand theme of the night…
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given that habitue is/was $1500 a head, is The Menu a bargain at only $1250??
“Maybe you wanna jam it into the Pacojet.” was my favorite.
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