It's almost that time of year: August, when something aims for the heartstrings at the end of a blockbuster summer and just before the prestige movie season of the fall. We've seen films like “Eat, Pray, Love,” “The Help,” “Hope Springs” and “Lee Daniels' The Butler” succeed in that frame in recent years, and this year, it will be “The Hundred-Foot Journey” looking to cash in. Whether it can translate that potential success into an awards trajectory a la “The Help” (the only one of those three to find Oscar traction) is anyone's guess.
The film stars Helen Mirren as a French restaurant proprietress whose world is turned upside down when a displaced Indian family sets up shop across the street from her Michelin star experience. As you can see in the trailer at the top of this post, a culture clash ensues and all the tropes of such a story will surely follow as each side learns life lessons from the other, etc., etc. Oh, and it'll certainly feature a healthy dose of food porn for all the foodies out there.
At the helm is director Lasse Hallström, whose last brush with Oscar came 14 years ago with a similarly food-centric tale, “Chocolat.” In that film Juliette Binoche's sweet creations changed the lives of an entire town, and Miramax was miraculously able to secure five Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) for the critically tolerated production. It was also a big box office hit.
Will “The Hundred-Foot Journey” be a return to those highs for Hallström? Or will it just be a perfectly placed piece of product to help line Disney's coffers before the real heavyweights make their way to the theater? It can't be dismissed out of hand; Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg are both involved as producers, after all. We'll see how much noise it makes in a few months, but for now, check out the high gloss trailer above and tell us what you think.
“The Hundred-Foot Journey” opens August 8.