Underrated New York Movies, Part 1: 'No Reservations'

I know, I know.  This movie looks like a nightmarishly lame rom com filled with thinly-veiled, cooking style-as-personality type metaphors.  I won’t lie to you, the metaphors are there, but they aren’t nearly as shallow as one might expect, particularly within the context of such a beautifully shot, well-executed drama.

The film follows Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones), the gorgeous chief chef of a respectable West Village restaurant, which she runs with an iron fist.  In fact, Kate is so anal retentive, she cannot sit down for fear of sucking up the furniture.  But when her sister dies suddenly in a car accident and Kate inherits custody of her niece, Zoe (Abigail Breslin), she is forced to take some time off to adjust to her new circumstances.  In the meantime, the restaurant owner (Patricia Clarkson) hires free spirit and all-around goofball, Nick (Aaron Eckhart) to help out in the kitchen during her absence.  Nick quickly endears himself to Kate’s staff, her boss and even her niece, Zoe with his opera singing and quail carcass puppet shows.  This royally irritates Kate but when everything boils down to it (pun intended) – her position threatened at the workplace, a resentful, little orphan at home – she realizes she can’t keep living like she’s the only one in the kitchen.

No Reservations has all of the ingredients (can’t resist) of a remarkably moving film.  Director Scott Hicks managed to beat elegant, understated performances out of all of the actors, New York looks as cozy and charming as it can in the dead of winter thanks to Stuart Dryburgh’s cinematography, and Philip Glass’ score is pitch perfect.  This New York movie is class through and through and the perfect thing for a lonely, rainy day when you just want to curl up in the fetal position and be emotionally manipulated.  The marketing makes it look like such a bore it could drive even a restless soccer mom to choose a commercial-riddled Oprah rerun instead of watching it On Demand, but I promise, this film is one of the reasons the expression, “Never judge a book by its cover” exists.