a hundred step journey

The Hundred-Foot Journey

“The Hundred-Foot Journey” is a film that demands that you take it seriously. With its feel-good themes of multicultural understanding, it is about Something Important. It even comes with the stamp of approval from titanic tastemakers Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg , who both serve as producers. What more convincing could you possibly need?

There’s something familiar about the treacly and sanctimonious way this film is being packaged. It reeks of late-‘90s/early ‘00s Miramax fare: films with tasteful yet ubiquitous ad campaigns and unabashed Oscar aspirations which suggested that seeing them (and, more importantly, voting for them) would make you a better person. Films like “The Cider House Rules,” “Chocolat” and “The Shipping News.” Films by Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom.

Hallstrom just happens to be the director here, as well, and the similarities to “Chocolat” are inescapable. Stop me if think you’ve heard this one before: A family moves into a quaint but closed-minded French village and shakes things up with an enticing array of culinary delicacies. This new enterprise happens to sit across the street from a conservative and revered building that’s a town treasure. But the food in question isn’t a bon bon this time—rather, the movie is the bon bon itself.

But despite being handsomely crafted, well acted and even sufficiently enjoyable, “The Hundred-Foot Journey” is also conventional and predictable. And for a film that’s all about opening up your senses and sampling spicy, exotic tastes, this comic drama is entirely too safe and even a little bland.

What livens things up, though, is the interplay between Helen Mirren and Om Puri as battling restaurant owners operating across the street from each other—100 feet away from each other, to be exact, a short but fraught trip that various characters take for various reasons. Watching these veteran actors stoop to sabotage each other provides a consistent source of laughs. She’s all sharp angles, piercing looks and biting quips; he’s all round joviality, boisterous blasts and warmhearted optimism. The contrast between the British Oscar-winner and the Indian acting legend offers the only tension in this otherwise soft and gooey dish—that is, until the film goes all soft and gooey, too.

Mirren stars as Madame Mallory, owner of Le Saule Pleurer (The Weeping Willow), an elegant and expensive French restaurant that’s the winner of a prestigious Michelin star. But one star isn’t enough for the coldly driven Mme. Mallory—she wants another, and then another.

But her bloodless quest for gourmet grandeur is interrupted by the arrival across the street of an Indian family: the Kadams, who’ve been wandering around Europe ever since their beloved restaurant back home burned down during political rioting. When the brakes on their car malfunction on a treacherous stretch of spectacular countryside, Papa (Puri) insists it’s a sign from his late wife and decides to open a new eatery in the charming town at the bottom of the hill.

Never mind that one of the most celebrated restaurants in all of France is sitting right across the street from the empty building he rents. Never mind that they are in an insular part of the country where the residents probably don’t even know what Indian cuisine is, much less like it, as his children point out. He has faith in his food—and in his son, Hassan ( Manish Dayal ), a brilliant, young chef.

Just as Papa and Mme. Mallory strike up a sparky rivalry, Hassan enjoys a flirtatious relationship with French sous chef Marguerite ( Charlotte Le Bon , who played an early model and muse in the recent “Yves Saint Laurent” biopic). The script from Steven Wright (who also wrote the far trickier “ Locke ” from earlier this year, as well as “ Dirty Pretty Things ” and “ Eastern Promises ”) is full of such tidy parallels, as well as trite and overly simplistic proclamations about how food inspires memories. Dayal and Le Bon do look lovely together, though, and share a light, enjoyable chemistry.

Then again, it all looks lovely—both the French and Indian dishes as well as the lush, rolling surroundings, which we see through all four seasons; the work of cinematographer Linus Sandgren , who recently shot “American Hustle.” This sweetly pleasing combination of ingredients would have been perfectly suitable if the film didn’t take a wild and needless detour in the third act. That’s when it becomes an even less interesting movie than it already was, in spite of its loftier aspirations.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series “Ebert Presents At the Movies” opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

• Amit Shah as Mansur
• Manish Dayal as Hassan Haji
• Charlotte Le Bon as Marguerite
• Helen Mirren as Madam Mallory
• Om Puri as Papa
• Lasse Hallström
• Richard C. Morais
• Steven Knight

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The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

122min - English, Spanish, French

122min - English

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A story centered around an Indian family who moves to France and opens a restaurant across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant.

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The Hundred-Foot Journey

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What to Know

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.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Lasse Hallström

Helen Mirren

Madame Mallory

Manish Dayal

Hassan Kadam

Charlotte Le Bon

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The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) Stream and Watch Online

Watch 'the hundred-foot journey' online.

Want to behold the glory that is ' The Hundred-Foot Journey ' on your TV or mobile device at home? Searching for a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or watch the Lasse Hallström-directed movie via subscription can be challenging, so we here at Moviefone want to do the work for you. Read on for a listing of streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription options - along with the availability of 'The Hundred-Foot Journey' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into all the details of how you can watch 'The Hundred-Foot Journey' right now, here are some details about the Amblin Entertainment, Harpo Films, Participant, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ, Reliance Entertainment, Touchstone Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures drama flick. Released August 8th, 2014, 'The Hundred-Foot Journey' stars Helen Mirren , Manish Dayal , Om Puri , Charlotte Le Bon The PG movie has a runtime of about 2 hr 2 min, and received a user score of 73 (out of 100) on TMDb, which compiled reviews from 1,406 top users. Curious to know what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "A story centered around an Indian family who moves to France and opens a restaurant across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant." 'The Hundred-Foot Journey' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, and Apple iTunes .

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The Hundred-Foot Journey | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

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The Hundred-Foot Journey with Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey

The recipe, the ingredients, the journey, on set with oprah winfrey, coconut chicken, rotten tomatoes® score.

Mirren is drily funny, deploying an arsenal of MasterChef-style horrified reaction shots.

How wrong can you go with a comedy about beautiful people making beautiful food in the south of France? And Helen Mirren? The woman can turn 105 and she'll still be alluring, even when she's being haughty. Lots of laughs.

It's an enjoyable film about passion; the passion for food, passion for culture but most of all, passion for life.

This isn't your usual summer fare, because it cares far too much about the people whose story it is telling and it takes the time to let you get to know them.

If you're into simple, pleasant movies that offer two-hour escapist entertainment, this may be for you.

[A] beautifully written story.

Fulfilling, rich and delicious, The Hundred Foot Journey is an effervescent delight, sizzling with cinematic and emotional flavor.

If films about the culinary arts revolved around the same strictures to obtain something like a Michelin star rating, The Hundred-Foot Journey would always and forever be a big fat zero.

For foodies and folks looking for the cinematic version of a poolside paperback, THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY delivers. If you're seeking something with a little artistic nutrition, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Overall, The Hundred-Foot Journey is not a bad dish, but considering its rich ingredients, it still lacks a bit of spice.

Additional Info

• Genre : Comedy, Drama
• Release Date : August 8, 2014
• Languages : English, Spanish
• Captions : English, Spanish
• Audio Format : 5.1

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