No Reservations - Movie Reco

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Friday, December 30, 2011

Dir: Scott Hicks
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Abigail Breslin


There are these special movies that make you feel good after watching them. ‘No Reservations’ is one such movie.

After watching 5 movies by a famous Hollywood director which required thorough analysis, brain storming, reading reviews after reviews and then re-watching them again, I felt a bit tired. I was dying to watch something light, something soothing and I could not have asked something better than ‘No Reservations’. In a way, rom-coms are pretty much predictable; this one is not an exception. But what makes some rom-coms special and deserves multiple viewing is, the apt cast at the core, blended with crisp humour, garnished with delightful music running in the background, then served fresh to the audience. Oh... well, No Reservations is lot about cooking too :)


It stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Kate a bachelorette Chef, who is just too serious about her passion - cooking. She works diligently in the kitchen of a NY restaurant, who believes she is the best cook in the city, throws tantrums on customers when they nitpick about her dishes, in turn inviting the rough relationship with the owner of the restaurant. She attends counseling sessions upon insistence by her restaurant owner often wishing ‘there was a cookbook for life’. Kate’s sister dies in an accident and gets to take care of her sister’s young daughter Zoe (brilliantly played by cute girl - Abigail Breslin). Initially Kate fails to cope-up playing the role of a caretaker for her niece who is missing her dead mother terribly. There enters Nick (Aaron Eckhart), the newly appointed chef by the restaurant owner as a replacement for a pregnant chef. Nick considers working under Kate is an honor. But, Kate is unhappy over Nick’s unorthodox working style, she is even insecure that Nick might take over her kitchen. Over the skirmishes with Nick, Kate learns to let her hair down; she even learns few lessons on parenthood from him. What follows after that is pretty predictable, but thoroughly enjoyable.

For me, a good movie is all about those special moments in it. Remember the scene where Julia Roberts asks Hugh Grant “After all... I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her” in Nottinghill. Remember Richard Gere saying, ”When you're not fidgeting, you look very beautiful...” to Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman or Julie Delpy enacting a telephonic conversation with Ethan Hawke who would be sitting right opposite to her in Before Sunrise. No Reservations too leaves you with memorable scenes that you would just not forget. There is a scene in the movie where Nick tries to kiss Kate in front of Zoe at the dining table. Kate turns her face away saying, ‘not in front of Zoe’. To which Nick says to Zoe, ‘I am now going to kiss your aunt’. Then Zoe covers her face saying, ‘OMG, this is so embarrassing’. I liked the expression on Zoe's face so much that I watched this scene many times. Every time I watch it, it never failed to convert the smile on face into a delightful grin.

Aaron Eckhart is very impressive in the movie. Check out the way delivers those smart lines, the way he uses his charm to flirt with Zeta-Jones. I have never liked Zeta-Jones this much earlier. The young girl Abigail Breslin is adorable too. Watch this movie when you are feeling little heavy in the head after a boring day at office, you will surely hit the sack smiling.

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