The Hundred Foot Journey (film)

Plot

The Kadam family ran a restaurant in Mumbai. The second-oldest son, Hassan (Manish Dayal), was being groomed to replace his mother (Juhi Chawla) as the restaurant's main cook. However, a mob attacks and firebombs the restaurant over an election dispute. Papa Kadam (Om Puri) and his family evacuate the guests, but Mama is killed. Seeking asylum in Europe, the family first settles in London, where their residence proves ill-suited for a restaurant. They depart for mainland Europe.

Shortly after entering France, the brakes on Papa's van fail near Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in the Midi-Pyrénées. Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon), a sous chef at an upscale French restaurant named "Le Saule Pleureur" ("The Weeping Willow"), passes by and offers to help the Kadams find an auto repair shop and a guest house. She brings the Kadams to her apartment and treats them to cold food. Papa is amazed at the quality of the food in the village and its availability and discovers that Marguerite made the food herself.

Papa learns of an abandoned restaurant building available for purchase. It is located directly across the street — only 30 m — from Le Saule Pleureur. Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren), caretaker for the owners, asks the Kadams to leave because it is "private property". Papa buys the property, even though the rest of his family is against it, and names the restaurant "Maison Mumbai".

Mallory comes over to Maison Mumbai to ask for a menu and then buys all the locally available ingredients needed to cook their dishes on opening night. A cold war erupts between Papa and Mallory. The war peaks on Bastille Day when one of Mallory's chefs, Jean-Pierre, and two others vandalize the Kadams' restaurant by spray-painting words which translate to "France for the French" on the outer wall and firebombing the interior. Hassan catches the arsonists in the act and scares them off, but his hands and legs are burned. The following morning Mallory, who knew nothing of the arson and vandalism, dismisses Jean-Pierre and personally cleans the graffiti from Maison Mumbai.

Hassan, having heard from Marguerite that Mallory hires potential chefs by taste-testing an omelette and deciding whether the person is indeed a great chef, asks if he may cook an omelette for her to his recipe. Due to his injured hands, Mallory helps under Hassan's supervision. After tasting the omelette, Mallory recognizes Hassan's potential and invites him to work for her. Papa is initially against the move, but ultimately strikes a deal with her as to Hassan's pay.

Hassan's cooking, which gradually evolves into a fusion of Indian cuisine and French cuisine, results in Mallory's restaurant receiving its second Michelin star. The award draws national attention to Hassan's cooking, and he is offered and accepts a job in Paris. Papa and Mallory make amends and begin seeing each other.

Hassan's cooking in Paris quickly receives critical acclaim, fueling speculation of a third Michelin Star for the Paris restaurant, but his work is increasingly bogged down by thoughts of his family and Marguerite (with whom he had an ongoing romance). Hassan returns home and reunites with Marguerite. He invites Marguerite to join him in a business venture—buying a stake in Mallory's restaurant, along with operational control. Hassan believes this will help the restaurant earn its third star. That evening, Hassan and Marguerite prepare dinner at Mallory's restaurant and bring the dishes across the road to the courtyard of Maison Mumbai for all to enjoy.

Cast

Production

On June 3, 2013, Helen Mirren was in negotiations to join the cast. On July 1, DreamWorks confirmed the casting of Mirren and Manish Dayal.

Principal photography began on September 23, 2013, in southern France, in Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, lasted for nine weeks and proceeded in The Netherlands and in the Cité du Cinéma studio complex, located in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.The Hundred Foot Journey was extensively shot at scenic locales of Midi-Pyrénées. Prior to actual filming, actors Manish Dayal and Charlotte Le Bon spent a considerable amount of time going to restaurants and observing and learning in kitchens. To sign off on the food featured in the film, producer Juliet Blake consulted Indian-born chef Floyd Cardoz who understands “fusing together two cultures through cooking.” Indian actress Juhi Chawla plays Om Puri's character's wife in the film. The makers felt the need for her to look 15 years older than her present age. That's why she has been made to age digitally on screen with the help of post-production techniques.

Soundtrack

A.R. Rahman composed the music for the film. Hollywood Records released the soundtrack on August 12, 2014.

Release

The first trailer for the film was released on May 13, 2014. The film's New York premiere was held at the Ziegfeld Theatre on August 4, 2014. The film was released on August 8, 2014. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributed The Hundred-Foot Journey globally through its Touchstone Pictures label, except for territories in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, where the film's rights were sold by Mister Smith Entertainment to independent distributors. Reliance Entertainment distributed the film solely in India. The film was released in France as Les Recettes du bonheur (translates to The Recipes for Happiness).

Home media

The Hundred-Foot Journey was released by Touchstone Home Entertainment on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on December 2, 2014.

Box office

The film grossed $10,979,290 in its opening weekend in the USA, finishing in 4th. As of December 6, 2014, the film has grossed $88,880,821.

Critical response

The film has been met with generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 68%, based on 124 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Director Lasse Hallström does lovely work and Helen Mirren is always worth watching, but The Hundred-Foot Journey travels predictable ground already covered by countless feel-good dramedies." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 55 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Salis Afaque of Salis Magazine gave the film 3 stars.

The Wrap's Alonso Duralde called the film "a surprisingly bland slumgullion of food porn and emotional manipulation, filtered through the middlebrow sensibilities of director Lasse Hallström." Variety's Justin Chang called the film "the most soothing brand of cinematic comfort food." Film critic Edwin Arnaudin of the Asheville Citizen-Times gave the film a "B-plus".

The NPR's film critic Kenneth Turan said the film was entertaining, while criticizing the predictability of the story and "wish[ing] that the film had more of the messy juices of life flowing through its veins".