No Reservations
|
List Price: Our Price: $1.95 You Save: $4.02 (67%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of No Reservations
Movie Review: FOOD, LOVE, OPERA AND VOILA!
Summary: 4 Stars
Kate (Zeta-Jones) is one of the top chef's in one of Manhattan's most renowned restaurants. She is known for her unbelievable unique dishes and for the flair in her cooking.
Her sister is coming to visit with her niece Zoe (Abigail Breslin). Then the unexpected happens and Kate gets a call at the restaurant. En route to arrive that evening, her sister and niece have been in a terrible car accident. Kate's sister is dead and Zoe is at the hospital.
Dealing with the grief of the loss of his sister, Kate throws herself more into her work. She is now mother to Zoe. Kate has never been good in relationships - she is not the most affable of people as all she thinks about is her kitchen and her cooking. Both Kate and Zoe are thrown together by chance and both are dealing with their grief. Zoe needs love and understanding as she has lost her mother and Kate has no idea how to provide that, as there is little warmth between them.
Meanwhile, Kate's sous chef is about to give birth, so she is replaced by Nick (Aaron Eckhart). Kate takes a week off as her overwhelming grief has eventually caught up with her. Upon her return to the restaurant, she finds Nick running her kitchen. His gregarious opera-loving manner is something that Kate is unprepared for and is quite unwelcome in her precise and well-run kitchen. He is light-hearted, witty and completely charming and Kate is certain that Nick's M.O. is to take over her kitchen. The war starts.
One night Kate brings Zoe to the restaurant as she has to work and cant leave Zoe at home alone. She is also beside herself, as Zoe will not eat any of the flamboyant dishes she has cooked for her. Zoe forms a tenuous bond with Nick and soon Kate is also drawn to his charm and how well he deals with Zoe.
Nick woos Kate and soon their relationship blossoms.
NO RESERVATIONS is very well cast - each actor plays their role to perfection. Zeta-Jones is magnificent in her role of top chef and struggling instant mother. Young Abigail Beslin - does a remarkable job in the woebegone Zoe (she is developing into a fine young actress) and Eckhart - who is sexy a hell - is the prince charming in the story! This is a terrific and touching film for those whose attraction is food, music and love!
PS! AWESOME SOUNDTRACK AS WELL!
Movie Review: A Revitalized Romantic Recipe
Summary: 4 Stars
'No Reservations' is a low-key romance with a lot of heart. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Kate, a head chef of a fancy restaurant who's a serious perfectionist to the letter. (She even confronts customers who complain.) When her sister and Zoe (Abigail Breslin), her neice, come to visit, a terrible car accident leaves her sister dead and Zoe an emotional wreck. Taking time off, her quietly assertive owner/manager (Patricia Clarkson, 'Lars and the Real Girl') replaces her with a temp, a skillful and freewheelin' sous chef, Nich Palmer (Eckhart). Holding her career dear, Kate must come to terms with her newfound responsibilities raising Zoe while keeping her job and making new discoveries as Nich helps her to lighten up and discover how the other half lives. An exuberant lunatic, he plays the kitchen like a conductor of the arias he's so fond of. Beautiful music and Nick's heartfelt love for Italian culture give the film the proper ambiance it needs.
Taking familiar dramatic ingredients, the characters and timing are all combined to make a truly palatable viewing experience. Engaging performances by Zeta-Jones, Eckhart, Clarkson, and Breslin give this romantic dramedy the right touches. Catherine Zeta-Jones won my heart for her performance, and Aaron Eckhart, whose multi-faceted acting ability has been best as the villain, proves he's a worthy romantic lead. (I was one of the few who wasn't impressed with 'Conversation(s) With Other Women' even though I liked his dour performance as "the guy" with Helena Bonham Carter.) Carol Fuch's winsome screenplay (based on 'Mostly Martha' by screenwriter, Sandra Nettelbeck) sets the right mood, taking the movie through courses of comedy and seriousness with nearly flawless timing. Very light, romantic, and engaging.
Movie Review: Table For Three?
Summary: 4 Stars
This space is usually reserved for reviews of serious political and historical works, various past trends in film and music or the like. Every once in a while, however, this reviewer comes across a quirky little item that requires some commentary. The film "The Waitress" about the follies and foibles of a pie-crazed mama -to-be was one such effort and the film under review, also centered on food, "No Reservations" is another. Maybe that is the key to my interest: the question of food; its necessity preparation for survival and those who are devoted to presenting it in its best light. Or maybe it is that although my members of my household, my friends and other whom I know well are aghast at the proliferation of "reality" television productions they are, to a person, wedded to some reality show called "Top Chef". Go figure.
In any case that last sentence can serve as an introduction to the story line here. Of course, with any essentially light-hearted cinematic look at the follies and foibles of a top flight chef, in this case a female one played by the fetching Catherine Zeta-Jones, outside the kitchen there has to be some romantic element. Here the boy meets girl line is completed by a new sous-chef played here by Aaron Eckhart. That too figures, although not always, as here, in New York and not always in an upscale restaurant. In short order this pair prove that too many chefs can spoil the pot. Throw in a little imp of a niece who is thrown Zeta-Jones' way after the tragic and traumatic death in an automobile accident of her sister and you have a nice little stew. Working through Zeta-Jones' love life and her new responsibilities to the niece drives the film (with a little assist from an apparently necessary tool for every New York chef- a witty "shrink"). If food is your thing, and even if it is not, this is a nice little piece of fluff to while away a couple of hours. Try the quail with truffles.
Movie Review: Ms Little Sunshine shines
Summary: 4 Stars
One might feel a bit disppointed if food and cooking are what they primarily look for in the film. Surprisingly, the film is more about the blossoming relations between the workalcholic Kate (Catherine Zeta Jones), Zoe (Abigal Breslin) and the upcoming Italian chef Nick (Aaron Eckhart). The scene stealer is Zoe. She is beautiful, young and a natural. Her mourning over her loss of her mom, pillow fight with aunt Kate, making pizza with Nick and her being tempted by Nick's homemade spaghetti were all shot wonderfully. Her tiny and intelligent face spoke it all. Catherine Zeta Jones was gorgeous but she didn't look like a top French Head Chef at 22 Bleecker. She, however, looks perfect as a loving aunt, an overworked career woman and will make any man fall for her. Aaron Eckhart is so convincing as a popular and passionate chef. No wonder people inside and outside the kitchen love him.
This film is so well-knit (perhaps because the German film Mostly Martha is such a success) that it is a delight to watch. I love the New York streets, the old apartment, staircase and natural lit corridor at Kate's apartment. The supporting cast look more French and in the restaurant business than Kate - the restaurant owner Paula (Patricia Clarkson), Kate's right hand chef Leah (Jenny Wade). Zoe's mom (Arija Bareikis, American Embassy) and Zoe actually have such similar facial features. She looks like a French Chef too. Having said that, Catherine Zeta Jones looks good in this role but this time (unlike Chicago) she cannot transform it into an exclusive Catherine Zeta Jones role only. Her therapist(Bob Balaban), with his quiet voice and rooftop clinic overlooking New York buildings, is fun to watch.
A warm, beautifully shot and well cast movie. Even the food lovers won't have much to complain in the end.
Movie Review: Well worth watching
Summary: 4 Stars
We have all seen the movies where someone's well-ordered life is turned upside down when he or she is unexpectedly required to raise a child -- think "Three Men and a Baby" or "Baby Boom". That is the basic premise of this movie where Kate (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) is the exective chef at a successful New York restaurant. She has total control over what happens in her kitchen and her life revolves around acheiving perfection. The life-style she leads doesn't leave much room for outside interests or family but when her sister dies, the only one that can raise her niece is her. All this happens during a time period when a new sous chef has been hired and has a vastly different approach to cooking and running a kitchen.
While somewhat predictable, the movie rises above the usual slap-stick humor of the other movies (which I loved.) This movie shows more of the human emotion of losing a sister and mother and the havoc it causes is portrayed with more depth and feeling. While very humorous at times (particularly enjoyed the scene where she cooks a meal for the young niece and it ends up being a fish with its head still on - the reaction is priceless) it is more realistic than other movies along this same story line.
Good acting, good story and a great way to spend an evening at home!