Love's Kitchen

Love's Kitchen (originally titled No Ordinary Trifle) is a 2011 British romantic comedy film directed by James Hacking and starring Dougray Scott, Claire Forlani, Michelle Ryan, and featured celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay in his first acting role. Hacking also wrote the script for the film, and it was the director's first feature-length film. It received a limited theatrical release in the UK, taking £121 on its opening weekend from five screens.[1] It was released direct to DVD in the United States. Film critics gave it mostly negative reviews, and the film received a score of 19% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Love's Kitchen
Directed byJames Hacking
Produced byJ. Alan Davis
James Hacking
Simone Ling
Duncan Napier-Bell
Nicholas Napier-Bell
Written byJames Hacking
StarringDougray Scott
Claire Forlani
Simon Callow
Gordon Ramsay
Music byTom Howe
CinematographyJordan Cushing
Edited byRupert Hall
Kant Pan
Distributed byScreen Media Films (US)
Release date
  • 7 June 2011 (2011-06-07)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

After his wife is killed in a car accident, chef Rob Haley (Dougray Scott) is left grief-stricken. A bad review causes him to lose customers at his once successful restaurant, so after talking to his friend Gordon Ramsay (himself), Haley relocates to the countryside with his daughter and some loyal members of his staff to turn a local pub into a gastropub.

On the opening day of the restaurant, American food critic Kate Templeton (Claire Forlani) arrives, resulting in an argument with Rob, but the two go on to fall in love and buy a dog. Some of the locals are content with the visitors that the restaurant is bringing to the area, whilst others want it closed down. Rob cooks a special dish with duck that is a hit with the populace. Kate sees to it that Guy Witherspoon (Simon Callow), a renowned food critic, visits the restaurant which results in an excellent report and ongoing success for the restaurant under Haley and Templeton.

Cast

Production

The film was based on the story of pub owner John Hailey, on whom the character of Rob Haley was based. The character of Kate Templeton was a play on words based on the fact that the pub it was based on was a local for Kate Middleton, later Duchess of Cambridge.[2] The script was written by James Hacking, who went on to direct the film, marking it as his first full-length feature. Hacking also provided funding for the film himself.[3] Dougray Scott and Claire Forlani were cast opposite each other, although in real life they were husband and wife.[4] Hacking pursued Gordon Ramsay for a role in the film for some time, but decided not to go through his agents and approached him directly. Ramsay agreed to appear at his own expense.[3] Ramsay's name was misspelt in the closing credits as "Ramsey".[5]

Scenes from the film were shot on site at Elstree Studios.[6] One scene features Michelle Ryan driving an Alfa Romeo. Production on the film was completed in March 2009.[7]

Release

Love's Kitchen was entered in the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. The film made its debut showing in the UK at the Kingussie Food on Film Festival in February 2011 under its original name of No Ordinary Trifle. The only actor from the film to make an appearance was Lee Boardman.[8][9] It took £121 on its opening weekend (on 5 screens) in the UK after release on 24 June 2011, comparing poorly with the same weekend's biggest opening film, Bridesmaids, which took £3.44 million (on 482 screens), including previews of £1.03m.[1] Due to the appearance by Ramsay in the film, the low levels of takings was highlighted by the press who sought to get a response by the chef, but he refused to comment except to state that he wished to have no involvement in the promotion of the film.[10]

DVD release in the United States preceded the UK cinema release, with the film going straight to DVD on 7 June.[9] It was also presented at the 2011 Dances With Films independent film festival, where it opened the event,[10] but not entered in the competition.[11] The film was released in the UK on DVD less than three weeks after its cinema release, coming out on 11 July.[12]

Critical reception

Following the release of the trailer for the film, critics began to criticise it as they thought they could guess the entire plot straight away,[13] while Digital Spy's Simon Reynolds predicted that it would be a candidate for the worst film of the year.[9]

Following release, the film garnered a 19% approval rating from 16 critics on the review-aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.[12] The film was heavily criticised upon release by the British media. David Edwards for The Daily Mirror suggested that people should see it "for a masterclass in how not to make a film. The effect is like smashing plates over your head while suffering from violent diarrhoea."[14] However, the newspaper also listed the film as a "nicely staged British rom-com".[15] The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw described the film as "abysmal", and in particular thought that Gordon Ramsay was "excruciating".[16]

Henry Fitzherbert at the Daily Express described it as "astonishingly amateur and awful",[17] while Sky Movies critic Tim Evans described it as a "veritable banquet of awfulness".[2] Empire gave the film a score of two out of five.[18] Total Film thought better of the film, with Emma Dibden describing it as having a "sharp script" while praising both Dougray Scott and Simon Callow, and giving the film a score of four out of five.[19]

References
  1. Nissim, Mayer (29 June 2011). "Gordon Ramsay's 'Love's Kitchen' flops with just £121 at box office". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  2. Evans, Tim (29 June 2011). "Love's Kitchen". Sky Movies. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  3. Carnevale, Rob (20 June 2011). "Love's Kitchen - Lee Boardman interview". Orange Film News. Archived from the original on 10 December 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  4. https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2007/06/09/Claire-Forlani-and-Dougray-Scott-wed/27411181407559/
  5. Cole, Tom (29 June 2011). "Ramsay's (motion) picture nightmares". Radio Times. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  6. "Dougray Scott returns to Elstree Studios". Elstree Studios. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  7. "No Ordinary Trifle". Eyeline Entertainment. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  8. "Dougray Scott film to debut at Kingussie Food on Film". BBC News. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  9. Reynolds, Simon (1 June 2011). "Gordon Ramsay in 'Love's Kitchen': Worst film of the year?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  10. "Ramsay serves up 'the T word' in acting debut". Scotsman. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  11. King, Susan (2 June 2011). "Dances With Films was born of rejection". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  12. "Love's Kitchen". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  13. Heritage, Stuart (1 June 2011). "Love's Kitchen: a Gordon Ramsay nightmare". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  14. Edwards, David (24 June 2011). "Love's Kitchen review: A thoroughly rotten comedy". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  15. "Love's Kitchen is a fine British rom-com". The Daily Mirror. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  16. Bradshaw, Peter (23 June 2011). "Love's Kitchen – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  17. Fitzherbert, Henry (24 June 2011). "Love's Kitchen Film Review and Trailer". Daily Express. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  18. Smith, Anna. "Love's Kitchen". Empire. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  19. Dibden, Emma (4 July 2011). "Love's Kitchen". Total Film. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
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