Upon hearing that Joe Maggio's Bitter Feast would be a part of the Austin Film Festival I instantly
knew that I had to check it out. I really like cooking shows, especially Gordon
Ramsey's "˜Hells Kitchen', and I thought it would be a similar experience. I was wrong. What I got instead was a movie that is longer than it needs
to be and shares its plot points with nearly ever other kidnap thriller made in
the last ten years.
Peter Grey is a successful television cook living and
working in the heart of New York.
But when a scathing review from snarky restaurant critic JT Franks
threatens to ruin his career Grey opts to fight back. Pushed over the edge and
convinced this blogger has killed the dream he has worked for all his life, the
famous chef hijacks the culprit in a remote cabin where he prepares a classic
dish of revenge - served cold.
Maggio's darkly satirical look at the relationship between the critic
and the artist is demented and humorous, growing more and more brutal until the
shocking final course.
I think this movie would have been better had it been made as
a comedy rather than a dark thriller. After the first five minutes you will likely
be thinking the same. Bitter Feast had a lot of potential, but
in the end it does not deliver. It
takes an idea that we have all seen and does nothing with it. I wouldn't expect you to find this on
DVD any time soon, but perhaps as a 2 a.m. snack on the food network.
