The Milwaukee Post

18 • Milwaukee County Post • May 30, 2014 By TOM JOZWIK Special to The Post MILWAUKEE – Jon Favreau's comedy "Chef" and the British period drama "Belle" are movies now in area theaters. Here is a look at each one: "Chef" 115 minutes, R I think I'm on to the "Chef" filmmaking strategy. Load the movie with talented actors but consign most of them to bit parts. That way you needn't pay them as much but can still cash in on their names. "Chef" has Robert Downey Jr., Dustin Hoffman, Scarlett Johansson and Oliver Platt in cameos. Downey's part should've wound up on the cutting room floor – the character is simply excess baggage (not the actor's fault). But I would've liked to have seen much more of the other three. I doubt whether Hoffman and Platt have 15 minutes of screen time between them, but each has a riveting confrontation with Jon Favreau (very good in the star- ring role of Chef Carl Casper), who also wrote, directed and co- produced the picture. The con- frontations are "Chef's" best scenes; the one involving Platt (who nicely underplays a vitri- olic food critic named Ramsey Michel), in fact, is the movie's cli- max. Trouble is, it comes just 20 minutes or so into the film, mak- ing for about 90 minutes of falling action. "Chef" really is, as the bromide goes, "all downhill" from climactic argument to clos- ing credits. Too bad. The early going, inti- mating examinations of both the critical process and the art-ver- sus- profitability dilemma, seemed quite promising. Ironically, Hoffman and Johansson were gone for good (and so, virtually, was Platt) once promising gave way to pre- dictable. That happened when what originally seemed to be a subplot, telling the familiar enough story of a neglectful father and neglected son, moved front and center. Sofia Vergara, an award winner for her comic acting on television, became more prominent (playing Casper's ex) as those other celebrities faded; Vergara is cer- tainly versatile enough to play a straight role, but I found myself anticipating humor from her (particularly since the movie's supposed to be a comedy) and dis- appointed when it didn't come. Her unamusing character did complement the unamusing dia- logue – and a stupid sight gag wherein the chef slid along a floor with shoes sheathed in those protective blue coverings folks often wear while touring fancy houses. "Chef" features good-looking food presentations, before and after Casper exchanges his restaurant gig for operating a food truck. A number of cooking scenes, occasionally with instructional patter, might've been better left to The Food Channel. But I wish my wife had been along to watch Favreau's character grill a cheese sandwich without burning the bread. Rating: 2 stars "Belle" 105 minutes, PG The more I've thought about Amma Asante's "Belle," the more I've remembered Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" from a cou- ple years back. Spielberg's is def- initely the superior film, but "Belle" isn't half bad and it shares several positives with its predecessor. There's the acting quality, cre- ated in "Belle" by the likes of Britins Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Tom Felton and "Downton Abbey's" ever-enter- taining Penelope Wilton. There are the basically true story and centuries-old setting aspects; the treatment of slaves as essential subject matter; and characters like Wilkinson's British chief justice, who employ arms of gov- ernment (judicial, legislative) to weaken or eliminate the institu- tion of slavery. There is the soar- ing background music. And there is the striking female newcomer with an African connection – but then, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who portrays Dido Elizabeth Belle, has that in common with Lupita Nyong'o of "12 Years a Slave" rather than with any "Lincoln" character. Illegitimate daughter of a sea- faring man, the mixed-race Belle has been reared by her great- uncle and aunt (Wilkinson and Watson), with the considerable aid of another relative (Wilton). She's lived a life of luxury, but certainly not one free of racial slights. As Belle comes of mar- riageable age, an aristocrat, sad- dled with a venal brother (Felton) and biased mother, and a circa 1800 version of a middle-class civil rights lawyer vie for her hand. Which one she chooses, and what will be done in response to a reprehensible, but possibly entirely legal, mass slave-drown- ing, are key questions of the movie. Rating: 3 stars Much more cooking with British 'Belle' than with Favreau's 'Chef ' Submitted photos From left, Jon Favreau, Emjay Anthony and Sofia Vergara are shown in a scene from "Chef." Right: Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson star in "Belle." Post Staff MILWAUKEE – Visitors to the Mitchell Park Domes will travel through a landscape of large proportions during the summer flo- ral show. The show opens June 7 at The Domes, 524 S. Layton Blvd. According to a Milwaukee County release, colorful blooms will be interspersed amid giant-sized plants. Visitors will see brightly hued New Guinea impatiens, blue Salvia, deep rose pentas (favored by butter- flies) and other colorful blossoms. Giant-leaved plants in the show will include elephant ears, with leaves up to 6 feet long, and castor bean, with leaves up to 3 feet long. Also of giant proportion are the tus- socks of pampas grass, which can grow to a height of 9 feet. Enlarged props – up to 1 foot – of "good" and "bad" bugs, as well as interpretive sig- nage, will be placed throughout the show. Benefits from pollinators such as honeybees and monarch butterflies, along with their recent plights of colony collapse and declin- ing populations, are explained. The destruc- tive behavior of aphids and emerald ash bor- ers and current best management practices are discussed. Also provided is an example of a bug that may be considered both good and bad – the ladybug. While it is sought for its voracious appetite for aphids and other plant-eating insects, some varieties of ladybugs also feed on plants. The exhibit runs through Sept. 7. Admission for adults ages 18 and over is $7; Milwaukee County seniors with ID, per- sons with disabilities, students of any age with ID and youths ages 6 through 17 are $5. Children 5 and under are admitted for free. For more information, call The Domes at 257-5611 or visit www.countyparks.com. Summer floral show opens at The Domes

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