The Taste of Things (5/10)

by Tony Medley

145 Minutes.

NR.

Some have compared this with My Dinner with Andre, Louis Malle’s brilliant 1981 film consisting entirely of a dinner conversation between André Gregory and Wally Shawn at the Café des Artistes in Manhattan. But there is no comparison. Malle’s film contains a captivating dialogue between the two that enthralls the audience for just under two hours.

But this film is a prequel to Marcel Rouff’s book and directed by Anh Hung Tran. Even so, the main person behind the film is Gastronomic Director Pierre Gagnaire because the film’s guts consist of the kitchen preparation of succulent feasts. That’s it, one recipe after another ad naseum, although the relationship between Eugenie (Juliette Binoche), an esteemed cook, and Dodin (Benoit Maginel), the fine gourmet with whom she has been working for over the last 20 years, seems to be the raison d’étre for the film. Alas, neither is enough to justify a movie of this length unless you are a gourmet cook. Binoche is one of the best actresses, but she takes second fiddle here to the food.

Binoche disclosed that the fact that she and Maginel had a prior relationship that produced a child made it easy to create an unusual relationship between the two characters they play in the film. In French.

Cast-Jean-Marc Roulot as Augustin
Juliette Binoche as Eugénie
Benoît Magimel as Dodin Bouffant
Emmanuel Salinger as Rabaz
Patrick d’Assumçao as Grimaud
Galatea Bellugi as Violette
Jan Hammenecker as Magot
Frédéric Fisbach as Beaubois
Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire as Pauline
Yannik Landrein as Pauline’s father
Sarah Adler as Pauline’s mother

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