No Reservations – Zeta-Jones Oh Zeta-Jones

Dear friends. Sorry for the infrequent updates lately and infrequent visit to your sites. Life has been busy lately. Arrgghh! Good news, I have finally found time to watch “No Reservation” – quite possibly Catherine Zeta-Jones’s finest acting (not saying it is an Oscar wining performance). I have always enjoyed watching Catherine Zeta-Jones on screen. Her porcelain skin and irresistible mischievousness and her contribution to Ocean Twelve, Intolerable Cruelty, Chicago, America’s Sweethearts, and Zorro … just to name a few of my favorites. Gosh, I love her … on screen I mean.

In “No Reservation”, she plays the character of Kate Armstrong. A chef of a posh restaurant who is a control freak with frequent visits to her shrink and has total dedication to her craft. For a moment, I thought of Ratatouille like some others do. But to compare the rat Remy to the beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones is just not … nice. Com’on guys.

As the story unfolds, Kate Armstrong finds herself having to take care of her niece (Abigail Breslin) after her sister has passed away. And here comes the charming chef assistance (Aaron Eckhart) who posts a threat – in Kate’s own mind – to her chef position. Worse still, this new assistance is sort of … charming. I am sure by now you can guess where this movie is heading towards.

I enjoy Aaron Eckhart’s acting a lot in “Thank You For Smoking”. What I did not realise is that how charming he can be on screen. My only complain is that his airtime in “No Reservation” is somewhat limited. Would have been good if he was to play a bigger role.

The little girl Abigail Breslin, 11 years of age, nominated for the Academy Award for her role in “Little Miss Sunshine”, in my humble opinion, is the gem of the entire film. Her acting is awesome. She out-acted Zeta-Jones by a few miles in my book (sorry Catherine). Abigail Breslin is a natural actress. I am confidence that she will do great on screen in time to come.

I love cooking and naturally, I enjoy the behind-the-kitchen scenes. It is rare to see on screen, I know. However, the storyline is somewhat predictable in the Hollywood sense. I can almost foresee what the next stage of the script was going to be. Forgettable storyline but not so forgettable acting.

Oh well, I agreed to watch “No Reservation” because of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Catherine Zeta-Jones only. Call me shallow but hey … I am a guy. One more thing, don’t expect to see Zeta-Jones in all beauty in “No Reservation”. She plays to her part that may not require her to look gorgeous and she does a good job out of it.