No Reservations

Aug 31 2007 By Graham Young, Birmingham Mail

GERMAN/Italian coproduction Mostly Martha (2001) is one of my favourite foreign films of recent years. Now it's been remade by Hollywood with Catherine Zeta-Jones as a headstrong chef who suddenly has to raise her young niece.

The 104-minute film opens with perfectionist Kate in therapy as she tries to find her way in life.

Patricia Clarkson, who might have given up cooking movies for good after the risible Simply Irresistible, plays her unsympathetic boss, Paula.

And kitchen newcomer Nick (Aaron Eckhart) is a bit too cocky for Kate's taste.

Directed by Scott Hicks (Shine) and beautifully shot by Britain's own Stuart Dryburgh (The Painted Veil), No Reservations lacks both dramatic drive and the engaging brilliance of Sandra Nettelbeck's original.

But it does have a decent message about devising your own recipes for a happy life and should make ideal viewing for a mature, girly night out.

Jones is believably feisty, the film looks great and the cooking scenes are some of the most convincing since the brilliant New York gangster thriller, Dinner Rush (2002).

Another plus is that niece Zoe is played by Little Miss Sunshine's unforgettable Oscar-nominee, Abigail Breslin, who turned 11 in April.

If the Michael Nyman-style score by Philip Glass (The Hours) threatens to overwhelm the early scenes, classic pieces like Nessun Dorma arrive to share the workload.

Just like Hicks' 1999 movie, Snow Falling on Cedars, this is a film to listen to as much as to watch.