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HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY, THE

What a fantastic way to wrap up the summer! I am not the biggest fan of romance films, which is what I expected from this film initially. However, The 100 Foot Journey is a funny, inspirational and delicious adventure that everyone will love.

This isn't just a romance film. This has a lot of cooking with a bit of love spiced in with the cooking, there are some fantastic one-liners that make the audience roar with laughter and this is all included in a fantastic adventure.

The story starts when an Indian family that cooks at a school, has to leave the school for very sad reasons. They end up in France where they start a restaurant. However, across a 100 foot wide road, there is another, very different restaurant. A huge adventure starts with the chefs, the owners, and some other people too. If you want to find out what happens you got to watch the film!

This film is produced by a great partnership of Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey based on a famous novel, so it was bound to be a masterpiece, and it is! The actors are funny. They are very much in touch with their characters and they all fit their parts perfectly! The directing is very precise and it makes me want to read the book that the movie is based on!

My favorite scene is when they are a bit competing and there is a montage of different cooks/chefs from the two restaurants cooking pretty and yummy looking food. It shows you that, even though both restaurants are very different, both can make excellent food! It made me hungry and I swear I could smell it at times.

This movie has some adult oriented references and also some scenes little children won't understand so a good age rating is 8 to 18. I also give it a solid 5 out of 5 stars for fantastic directing, cast, editing, ideas, and of course producing!

Reviewed by KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Gerry Orz, age 12.

Lasse Hallstrom, the director of Dear John, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Safe Haven and What's Eating Gilbert Grape, makes a heartfelt comedy about the struggles of an Indian cook trying to become a successful chef in France that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Om Puri plays Papa, one of my favorite characters, because he is stubborn, loveable and cares deeply for the well-being of his children and tries to make the best decisions for them. In the beginning, he and his children are in the middle of nowhere and a stranger takes the family under her wing. Papa finds a place for them to start a restaurant and Hassan thinks he is crazy for making an Indian restaurant hundred feet away from a popular French restaurant. Papa proves them wrong by making the restaurant very popular.

Hallstrom explores the different flavors and spices that educate the senses by showing the audience that the sacred culinary traditions being perfected by adding Indian spices and unusual ingredients. A memorable scene is when Hassan asks Madame Mallory to make an omelet with him. Madame Mallory has rejected his ability as a chef in the past and she questions him every time he adds something unusual to the omelet. With one bite she can no longer deny that Hassan is a gifted chef and tries to give him an offer he can't refuse.

Music adds the extra spice to the movie. When watching Hassan and his family makes their traditional meals the audience feels like they are in the middle of a family party but it is different because when Madame Mallory expects nothing less than perfection, which makes the audience feel like they are at a very classy and fancy restaurant. One of my favorite scenes is when Madame Mallory yells at Papa for having his Indian music up too loud and instead of Papa turning down his music, he turns it up louder just to make her even more upset.

This film is about only about food and competition it is about how a commonality can bring others together do something extraordinary. One lesson from this film is that you should always follow your dreams even when the people closest to you might not agree with your dream. Everyone will enjoy firework displays, colorful Indian costumes and the beautiful countryside of Paris, mouthwatering cuisines.

I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 8 to 18. The Hundred-Foot Journey is playing now in theaters nationwide.

Reviewed by Shelby R., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 14

Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey have partnered with Juliet Blake to produce this remarkable film starring Helen Mirren in a role perfectly suited for her as Madame Mallory, proprietress of a celebrated French restaurant. An Indian family opens their own restaurant across the street much to her chagrin and leads to confrontations that are hilarious and awkward. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Gerry O. comments, "This has a lot of cooking with a bit of love spiced in with the cooking, there are some fantastic one-liners that make the audience roar with laughter and this is all included in a fantastic adventure."

The Kadam family clashes with Madame Mallory, proprietress of a celebrated French restaurant, after they open their own nearby eatery, until undeniable chemistry causes the Madame to take gifted young chef Hassan under her wing. Produced by Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and Juliet Blake. Based on the book by Richard C. Morais. Starring Helem Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon, Amit Shah and more.