DELICIOUS -- A Cinematic Feast for the Senses

Review by Dan Skip Allen

Food movies are a genre that usually comes far and in between. But when they do, it's a most welcome genre. Even though most of them make me hungry while watching them. Delicious is a French film that depicts food on a level hitherto unheard of before. It's mouthwatering.
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Delicious is a film that fits its name. It's about a French chef (Gregory Gadebois) who makes delectable food for his master, the Duke of Chamfort (Benjamin Lavernhe), until one day his guests are dissatisfied with the chef's pastries and he is fired. He sets out on his own with his son (Lorenzo Lefebvre) to start anew. As he's starting to get established, a woman (Isabelle Carre) shows up on his doorstep offering to learn from him the ways of cooking fine French cuisine. Together they all change the way the French people think of what is considered dining in 1700s France.

The film depicts food and cooking on a level I have rarely ever seen in a film before. It's a form of artistry that the chef and his apprentice prepare all this scrumptious-looking food in the film. The painstaking detail they go through to prepare each meal is astounding. The way the chef's hands are more is that of pure genius. He is an absolute professional at everything he does. The sounds of the kitchen come to life while in this film and it's glorious to watch.

Director Eric Besnard has crafted a film of pure beauty besides that of all the cooking and exquisite cuisine being prepared within it. The visuals jump off the screen. From the gorgeous French countryside to the various changes of seasons. The film looks beautiful at every turn, especially one montage of the foliage of the fall changing into a snowfall of winter. The cinematography by Jean-Marie Dreujou is breathtaking to behold. Even dining scenes look amazing to look at.

Besides the direction and cinematography, the score in the film by Christophe Julien is so light and subtle but also melancholy to a tee. It comes along for the ride with the rest of the film. It's quite nice to listen to while also not being overpowering throughout the film. The film is set in 1700s France before the Bastille, so the clothes and hairstyles have to fit the occasion and they do just that as well. This film had a lot going for it that made it work on so many levels.

In addition to all of the wonderful food and visuals that this film depicts, it also has an amazing story about this man who refuses to give up his dream. He is stubborn at times and refuses to apologize to the duke about something, but his stubbornness proves to be his salvation in the end. The taste buds of the French people are the ultimate critics and with that came failures as well as successes in the end. A side plot of a romance adds another level to what is already a beautiful film in every sense of the word. It has everything it needs to be a great film. 

Delicious is all that word is defined by. It has an appetite that never stops from the very beginning opening credit scene to the end credits. The look and sound of the film just jump out as absolute perfection on every level. The beauty of the film is so hard to achieve it's almost impossible to believe what I just watched. It's an achievement I rarely see in films in this country, let alone others. People from all over the world should sit down and experience the sheer abundance of Delicious. 

Delicious hits theaters and VOD on January 14.

Rating: 5/5