I was in the mood to watch a movie and I wanted to watch something that had food and love as its theme. I couldn’t find anything good on cable so I thought it was a good time to use some of my funds in my iTunes account. Initially, I thought of getting “No Reservations” which starred Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart but was swayed by the reviews saying Mostly Martha (the original movie where No Reservations was based) was better.
I decided to get Mostly Martha since people thought it was good enough to have an American remake. So I waited for around half a day for my download to finish and I settled comfortably in the couch with my iPod Touch in hand. I was a little worried because someone mentioned that it was hard to read the English subtitles because it was too little and it was in yellow but I found it pleasing to the eye and easy to follow.
Martha Klein is a beautiful character. She is determined to be the best chef and is passionate about her cooking, this passion and determination makes her seem cold and oblivious to everything else. The movie started out with Martha lying in a couch talking about food with her therapist. Her therapist asks her why she goes to therapy and she says that her boss would fire her if she doesn’t. Then cue in the opening kitchen scenes where food and dining preparation is shown and it was made so beautiful you’d want to go out and eat dinner. The next scenes show the audience the reason she was sent sent to theraphy. Martha has self-control issues and is prone to outbursts whenever a customer complains about her cooking. Whenever she’s stressed, she goes into the meat locker to think clearly.
Once she’s home, she gets a call from her sister who would be visiting Martha with her daughter, Lina. You can hear from her voice that her sister is one of the few people who really knows and understands Martha. She goes to work as usual and receives a call in the kitchen where she is informed about her sister’s car accident. She then goes to the hospital to see her neice and takes her home with her until they find her Italian father. She is unable to connect comfortable with her niece especially when its time to eat. Lina hasn’t touched any of her food since her mother died and it has started to worry Martha.
Once she goes back to the restaurant, she finds out that another chef (Italian chef named, Mario) has been hired to assist in the kitchen especially because one of the kitchen staff is soon to give birth. Her control and trust issues start up again but she tries to control it especially since she has to take care of her niece.
Mario then tricks her into eating one of his cooking by pretending it was a recipe given to him by her dying mother on her deathbed and when Martha finds out, she storms back into the kitchen even more pissed at Mario. They continue on without talking much in the kitchen but then Mario confronts Martha if there was anything wrong with his work and Martha tells him its her kitchen and wont let anyone take it away from her. Mario then tells Paula that he was quitting and the only person who can decide if he would stay was Martha. She concedes and Mario stays.
Martha then enlists Mario’s help in finding Lina’s father. Martha brings Lina to the kitchen since Martha doesn’t have anyone to babysit and Mario finally gets her to eat. Martha and Lina gets into a fight when Martha forgets to pick Lina up after school so to make it up to her, Martha tells Lina she can have any wish.
Lina starts becoming close to Mario and she tells Martha her wish. Martha’s day off was spent with Mario and Lina, and for the first time you’ll see Martha really letting her guards down. The school official calls on Martha to tell her that Lina hadn’t been attending classes and that Lina has been spreading lies about Martha. They both get into a terrible fight with Lina running away from Martha. Troubles start brewing in the restaurant as well when one of Martha’s patrons call on her to praise the dish they ordered which was actually prepared by Mario.
Lina then runs away from home but gets caught in a train station buying a ticket to Italy. They finally make amends in the car and by the end of the day Martha and Mario finally gets together. The next day, Lina’s father arrives and takes her back to Italy to live with his family. Martha starts becoming cold again and pushed Mario away from her life. Mario stopped going to the kitchen and when Martha finally couldn’t focus on her cooking, she left the restaurant to ask Mario for help in getting Lina back. In the end they got married and is shown to be looking for a place which might be their own restaurant.
The movie was really good and I did enjoy it. It has replay value as well which is very important for me when purchasing movies. Its one of those good finds that I’ll be sharing with my family and friends. If you don’t have the money to get your own copy, at least rent it out from your local video stores. It’s worth it.
