No Reservations (2007)

Do not be mislead by the trailer for this film, if you are a parent, this is one sad, extremely difficult movie to watch. No Reservations is the story of an independent head chef who takes in her sister's child and has to deal with a new sous chef moving in to her restaurant. Surprisingly, and refreshingly, this is not your standard romantic comedy. Catherine Zeta-Jones is a really good actress, and does an excellent job in this film. Her character is not written with a whole lot of depth, and is actually kind of predictable, but she plays the part extremely well. Aaron Eckhart is an amazing actor, whom I hope does not get pigeon-holed into the romantic comedy genre. He is perfectly sarcastic, and his sense of timing is spot on. He's the type of actor that I expect to win an Oscar within the next 15 years, assuming that he gets the roles. Abigail Breslin is a fine young actress, and for a child, gives a very seamless performance. I liked No Reservations more than I thought I would. The main plot line is really sad and had my wife crying off and on, but it really helped to make this movie more interesting. Unfortunately, the end of the movie is about as predictable as the a romantic comedy gets, but it was not disastrous that it ruined the rest of the film. I cannot imagine watching this movie again, but I do not regret seeing it. I think my wife liked it a lot, but like I said, there was a good deal of crying involved. Let's just say this movie could have been a lot worse; I give No Reservations 2 and a half stars.