‘The Hundred-Foot Journey’
The Hundred-Foot Journey, a 2014 film based on the eponymous book by Richard C. Morais, joins the likes of Chocolat in the annals of pleasantly mawkish epicurean movies. Helen Mirren and Manish Dayal give harrowing performances for imperfect roles as dueling chefs with neighboring restaurants in the French countryside. The plot conflict tries to embody too much, so if you’re determined to think critically while you watch, this film will be infuriating. But The Hundred-Foot Journey mostly succeeds in its visual feats—I particularly love its stunning scenes of the protagonist’s childhood interactions with sea urchin, even though I later learned they aren’t entirely realistic.