The Hundred Foot Journey is a straight and pleasant ride

Predictability is usually considered to be a negative attribute in a motion picture… and there are absolutely no unexpected turns in The Hundred Foot Journey. But really, most of what we get on the big screen is familiar – we’ve seen it before in other garbs. Those that study story telling inform us that almost all stories follow the same basic pattern - they call it the “hero’s journey”. The hero is called to some adventure and is challenged or tempted along the adventure’s path. But aided by helpers the hero is eventually able to pass through the abyss and is reborn through some revelation that frees him/her from those challenges. The hero then returns home transformed and in a way that rewards his fellow man. I wont tell you whether Hundred Foot Journey follows that template exactly… let’s just say that it will only take a few scenes for you to see what’s coming in the rest. But the film is so fun to watch and listen to that you’re probably not going to be bothered much by its unchallenging nature.

Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal), the son of an Indian restaurant family, and the family’s most interested cook, is the hero in this myth. The family is forced to leave India and ply its trade in foreign lands. The father of the family, played by the great Indian actor Om Puri, chooses a small French town to set up shop. The only problem is that their new Indian restaurant, complete with the sights and sounds (loud sounds) and aromas of their country, is located just across the street from a Michelin-starred French food Mecca whose snooty mistress (Madame Mallory, played deliciously by Dame Helen Mirren) will not tolerate the classless eatery across the way interfering with the perfection she is striving to create. But young Hassan is something of a culinary savant it seems (anyone tasting his cooking reacts as if hit by a police taser) and the new restaurant soon gains a following.

As with any hero’s journey though, trials soon come to challenge family ties, love, and life. The impediments in Hundred Foot Journey, however, are relatively timid – more steps than steeples – and certainly manageable by any hero worth his salt (or coriander). More interesting is the evolution of the relationship between Puri’s and Mirren’s more mature characters – and the old pros’ performances, along with the fine food, help carry Journey from simply pleasant to almost satisfying.

Although the film does not strongly test the viewers mind, imagination, or emotion, it is pretty and its charm is as bottomless and unfailing as the supply of secret Indian spices Hassan uses to create his masterpieces. From the French landscape to the Indian cuisine (don’t see this one on an empty stomach), Journey is easy on the eyes and the heart. If nothing else, Journey’s calm and curveless ride will cleanse your pallet from the relentless action of those never ending summer blockbusters. 7.5 out of 10.