Let go of your
”
Reservations
”
It has been said that there are no new stories out there
– just new retellings of the same old ones. When it comes to
movies, that is certainly true. What we can hope for as viewers is
for a new little twist to the plot, some funnier dialogue, and
maybe a little better acting.
The movie
”
No Reservations
”
has a similar plot line to so many movies, I immediately figured
out how the scenes would play out long before I sat down in the
theater for the sneak preview a couple weeks ago. The film stars
Catherine Zeta-Jones as a career-oriented woman who finds herself
in charge of a child (Abigail Breslin) after her sister
unexpectedly dies. She has no idea what to do with herself until an
offbeat man (Aaron Eckhart) comes along and helps her rediscover
the priorities in her life.
Let go of your “Reservations”
It has been said that there are no new stories out there – just new retellings of the same old ones. When it comes to movies, that is certainly true. What we can hope for as viewers is for a new little twist to the plot, some funnier dialogue, and maybe a little better acting.
The movie “No Reservations” has a similar plot line to so many movies, I immediately figured out how the scenes would play out long before I sat down in the theater for the sneak preview a couple weeks ago. The film stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as a career-oriented woman who finds herself in charge of a child (Abigail Breslin) after her sister unexpectedly dies. She has no idea what to do with herself until an offbeat man (Aaron Eckhart) comes along and helps her rediscover the priorities in her life.
That’s how things went down in “Baby Boom,” the 1987 movie starrring Diane Keaton. The same plot cropped up in the 2004 film “Raising Helen,” in which Kate Hudson finds herself suddenly caring for three children. Abigail Breslin appeared as the youngest child in that film – so she’s got the role of the lost, orphan child down pat.
Despite similiarities between “No Reservations,” and these other films, as well as others I won’t name for the sake of space, it is based on a German film called “Mostly Martha.” That film came out in 2001 and follows a perfectionist chef as she wades through the challenge of dealing with a child (after her sister dies) while trying to maintain her career. I haven’t seen the original, but was clued in by a coworker that it is a pretty good movie. It’s probably better than the remake, but I did enjoy “No Reservations” for what it was – a romantic comedy with a predictable plot line.
Zeta-Jones plays Kate, an obsessive chef who attacks any customer who criticizes her cooking and who is forced into therapy by her boss. She spends the sessions developing new recipes and cajoles her therapist into letting her use the time the way she wants by bringing him delicacies to eat each time they meet. He tells her she doesn’t have to cook for him, as he cuts into the latest meal.
Kate’s life is thrown for a loop when her younger sister dies in a car accident and she is suddenly responsible for her niece, Zoe. Forced to take time off work, she is at a loss for what to do and even more upset when she returns to her restaurant kitchen. Her boss, played by Patricia Clarkson, has hired a sous chef from an Italian restaurant. Though Paula (Clarkson) seems to think Kate is brilliant in the kitchen, she is close to her wit’s end with Kate’s lack of customer service skills – and one is led to believe the new sous chef could be more than just an assistant, but a replacement for the head chef in the future.
Nick (Aaron Eckhart) is everything Kate is not – spontaneous, playful and willing to take risks, not just in his professional life, but in his personal life as well.
Young Zoe, who turns a nose up at everything her aunt cooks, takes a liking to Nick instantly when her aunt brings her to the restaurant at night. The sous chef woos her with spaghetti and she scarfs down her first meal since losing her mother. From there, the movie becomes even more predictable.
Kate and Zoe clash as they try to find how to fill up the hole left in their lives by Zoe’s mother. The scenes when the two are alone are most poignant as the grief they portray feels real. The comment from my family about the movie was that it was too sad for a romantic comedy. But for me, that is what made the movie a cut above other films such as “Raising Helen.” It wasn’t all laughter and jokes – it dealt with some of the sorrow that would come from losing a loved one.
The interactions between Kate and Nick are also predictable as she finds herself drawn to him despite her initial annoyance. The movie ended exactly how I thought it would – though I won’t give it away – but as the sub-genre of career woman who suddenly ends up with a child goes, the film was worth a watch.
