No Reservations (Blu-ray)

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TITLE : No Reservations

RATING: **

CAST: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin, Bob Balaban, Patricia Clarkson, Jenny Wade.

DIRECTOR: Scott Hicks

SCREENWRITER: Carol Fuchs

BASED ON FILM: "Bella Martha (2002)," written by Sandra Nettleback

STUDIO: Warner Bros.

RUNNING TIME: 104 Minutes

RATED: PG ...
...which was a movie with no laughs and thoroughly unlikable characters...and it was trying to pass itself off as a part romantic comedy and part character study. It failed on both counts. While NO RESERVATIONS is a better film---and yes, this is a rare instance where I'd take the studio assembly line over the indie flick---it's a romantic comedy where the romance feels manufactured and there are virtually no laughs. The film's heart is certainly in ... more

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TITLE : No Reservations

RATING: **

CAST: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin, Bob Balaban, Patricia Clarkson, Jenny Wade.

DIRECTOR: Scott Hicks

SCREENWRITER: Carol Fuchs

BASED ON FILM: "Bella Martha (2002)," written by Sandra Nettleback

STUDIO: Warner Bros.

RUNNING TIME: 104 Minutes

RATED: PG (US & UK); for sensuality and brief profanity.

DVD AVAILABILITY (Blu-Ray): 18 GBP from Amazon; ASIN #B000ZK9T2K

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PART ONE: TWO CHEFS AND A CUTE LITTLE GIRL

Recently, I reviewed a movie called DEDICATION, which was a movie with no laughs and thoroughly unlikable characters...and it was trying to pass itself off as a part romantic comedy and part character study. It failed on both counts. While NO RESERVATIONS is a better film---and yes, this is a rare instance where I'd take the studio assembly line over the indie flick---it's a romantic comedy where the romance feels manufactured and there are virtually no laughs. The film's heart is certainly in the right place, and it takes a risk by being nothing more than a sweet, PG-rated movie love story, but ultimately the capable cast and crew can't pull it off. If this film were a restaurant dish, I would send it back and ask for a dash of originality and some injection of humor. I'm not sure if the screenwriter would attack me on that kind request by throwing it back in my face, but that obviously means she can't take rejection well, just like its' lead character. Anyway, without further conflict, here comes NO RESERVATIONS on Blu-Ray courtesy of Warner Home Entertainment.

The angelic Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones, THE MASK OF ZORRO) is a dedicated chef who learned her craft from her mother and now works as the kitchen head in a N.Y.C. bistro. She lives by herself in an upscale apartment and has many restrictions in her life (i.e. she will not eat dessert, she will not eat in the afternoon, she will not date any guy in her building); in addition, she refuses to meet those who admire her cooking skills, but is more than willing to verbally retaliate when she gets negatively criticized. Her boss Paula (an uncomfortable Patricia Clarkson, GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK.) respects her position, but at the same time is worried of her rather hostile actions in front of the customers. It's because of that hostility that she sees a nameless shrink (played by Bob Balaban who---ironically---was also in DEDICATION) on a regular basis. Soon, two major events happen in her life which threaten turn her world upside down...and that's about it as far as exposition is concerned.
One of these changes involves tragedy, as her sister is killed in an automobile accident -- then again she shouldn't have been talking on her cell phone while driving! -- and now Kate is forced to adopt her niece Zoe (Oscar-nominee Abigail Breslin, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE). Kate has no experience with raising children, and her hectic schedule will naturally become a burden. The other major change is a threat to her, and it comes in the form of Nick (Aaron Eckhart, ERIN BROCKOVICH), a handsome chef, who Paula inexplicably hires while Kate is taking a week off. Kate sees Nick as nothing more than a rival and is convinced that his goal is take the kitchen over himself and run it as if it's his own. With all due respect, if any readers of this review seriously cannot see what is going to happen, then this maybe the movie for you.

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PAR T TWO: TAKE A SECOND AND LOOK AT THE DVD ITSELF

Don't you hate that kind of movie where you feel like you have watched it already just by looking at the poster? Imagine for a moment that your cruising the new release wall at your local video shop and you stop to look at the DVD of <b>No Reservations</b>. You see the stars of the movie facing opposite each other, and yet they are smiling with their heads turned to each other's direction; you think to yourself, "well, this looks kinda cute!" Catherine-Zeta Jones, however, is turned at a 45-degree angle while Aaron Eckhart is stationary. This tells you that Kate's character is the one will change, and it is because of Nick that she will turn her life around. She is also wearing a watch, which implies that time will be an issue for her at some point in the story. Now, if you want to analyze the cover even further from a suggestive perspective, Kate has her hand in a large bowl, while Eckhart is using a spoon as a phallic symbol by sticking it in a small pot. Believe me, I'm not suggesting that those who work in film advertising have degrees in psychology, but they do know how to subliminally seduce the consumer to sell a film. I'm sure Marshall McLuhan will tell you the same thing.

Getting beyond the cover, let's get back to the film itself, which is based on a 2001 German film entitled BELLA MARTHA, written and directed by Sandra Nettleback. Evidently, it won many European awards, and I would bet that the producers at Village Roadshow Pictures saw potential in the project. They hired Australian director Scott Hicks (SHINE) and his team---including his excellent editor Pip Karmel (ME MYSELF I) ---to helm the film. I haven't seen the original German film, though I'm willing to bet that first-time screenwriter Carol Fuchs made more than a few changes, which don't include dropping the German references, by the way. Fuchs certainly knows the formula, but she depends on it more often than not rather than whip up some surprises and enhance character development. We never really feel the passion between the cold Zeta-Jones and trying-to-be warm Eckhart which is a major liability in a romantic comedy like this, but what is most annoying is that she doesn't know how to write comedy. I laughed two or three times, while the rest of the film was shrouded in melodrama, mostly involving Zoe's difficulty to adjust to life with Kate.

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart are both fine performers who deserve a better script. I have enjoyed them both in previous films and wanted to see if their chemistry rang true here, though the passion just isn't there, as I said before. Sure, they look good together and do their best, but their star power isn't enough to lift this film out of its tried-and-true, formulaic foundations. The one that outshines both of them is the irresistible Abigail Breslin, who is sorely underused in terms of screen time and dialogue. When we first meet her in the hospital and she realizes her mother had been killed, her reaction actually made me choke up for a few seconds -- yes, she is <b>that</b> good. Now I'm praying she doesn't go down the same route Dakota Fanning has been travelling in recent years. Once again, Bob Balaban is wasted, as is Patricia Clarkson whose nondescript supporting character could have used a jolt of electricity.

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PAR T THREE: GIVE ME SOMETHING MORE NOURISHING!

Recently, NO RESERVATIONS came to Blu-Ray and the results are not as delicious as I expected. Visually, the print is clean for the most part, though none of it is luminous, with the 2.40:1 widescreen in VC-1 encode doing its part. The film is better on the audio side, with Philip Glass' stirring score -- one of the film's few virtues -- and the songs on the soundtrack sounding fine in the Dolby Digital 5.1 Stereo track, with other options for French and Spanish. Subtitles are also provided in all three languages. Special features include two featurettes, both of which I found a waste of time because they provided no insight whatsoever into the making of the movie. There is an episode of "Emeril Live" -- a cooking show that I've never heard of before -- which features Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin cooking the briefly-seen dishes in the film with the show's host. It plays as nothing more than a glorified period piece, and The other bonus is an episode of the food network series "Unwrapped" -- which is equally pointless -- where host Marc Summers visits the set of the film during the production and talks to the film's stars. While I credit the stars for their hard work in preparing to making dishes, it's really sad when all Warner Bros. could do is cook up two episodes of food shows to include as special features. (While the theatrical trailer is not included seperately, you can see it while watching "Emeril Live").

Aside from Glass' score, there is appropriate use of classical pieces by Luciano Pavarotti, including the powerful "Nessun Dorma." The only song that feels out of place among all the opera tunes is Liz Phair's "Count on My Love" which came off her most recent album. I'm a huge Phair fan, and I respect anyone who chooses the underground indie artist over pop mainstream slop which usually finds their place on those stupid "That's What I Call Music" cds. However, a great soundtrack does not a great movie make, and we all should have learned our lessons after the atrocity EMPIRE RECORDS. The bottom line is, Hollywood, we need a romantic comedy that is much more nourishing than this one. 'Nuff said. The Blu Ray DVD of NO RESERVATIONS came out in late January and is available for 18 GBP…a rip-off, in my opinion. Thanks for reading! Chris :) 

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