I wanted to love this movie. I really did. After all, it’s about French food, Indian food, and it stars Helen Mirren. What’s not to love? Instead, I only liked it a little. Sure it’s entraining, but it just doesn’t have the gravitas equal to it’s pedigree, which includes Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey as producers, Chocolat’s Lasse Halstrom as the director, and music from Slum Dog Millionaire’s A.R. Rahman.

With those ingredients, you know you’ll end up with something that’s sweet, flavorful and exotic. The 100-Foot Journey delivers on those counts, but ends up as a pleasant dessert, rather than an all out cinematic feast. French, Indian and haute cuisine stereotypes abound, and there are precious few plot twists that you don’t see coming a mile away. About the only chemistry that really pops takes place in an uber modern molecular kitchen, rather than between the intended characters.

In essence, the plot revolves around an Indian family that moves to France and opens a restaurant serving their native cuisine, right across the street from a Michelin-starred fine dining establishment run by the starchy Madame Mallory (Mirren). If you guessed what happened from there, you’d probably be right. Massive amounts of imagination were not employed here, and even the movie poster contains spoilers.

What ultimately redeems the film is the food photography. Linus Sandgren  provides such rich, vivid images you can practically taste the luscious dishes from your theater seat. If you don’t dine before hand, I guarantee you will run, not walk, to the nearest French or Indian restaurant, and proceed to devour entirely too many calories than would be good for you.

In essence, if you’re just looking for simple cinematic comfort food, this movie will satisfy your cravings. Just don’t be expecting a Big Night, Babette’s Feast, or even a Ratatouille.

Rated PG

122 Minutes