In the Intoxication of Stars

Once upon a time, Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) was a celebrated chef whose genius was hindered by an overly large ego and an unbridled passion for sex, drugs and alcohol. Eventually, all bridges are burned and Adam is left with only one choice: go completely under or repent and start completely over. After being in complete hiding for three years, he suddenly finds himself in London in front of his old business friend Tony (Daniel Brühl) and opens up to him about taking over his restaurant as head chef and whipping it into shape. Aware of Adam's talent, Tony agrees after initial hesitation. And when the irascible chef manages to recruit not only the gorgeous sous chef Michel (Omar Sy), whom he betrayed years ago, but also the gifted young chef Helene (Sienna Miller) to his team, Tony's faith in Adam actually seems to pay off. But then the ghosts of the past catch up with him and the oversized, self-destructive ego threatens to take control again.

Before his big break as a movie star, Bradley Cooper played the role of a self-absorbed, self-centered chef in the short-lived 2005 comedy series Kitchen Confidential. Ten years later, he now gets to embody a very similar character in the film Intoxication of the Stars. The problem with this is that the TV series character based on real-life celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, for all his airs and graces, was somehow charming and endearing. Adam Jones, on the other hand, is just a self-destructive creep who is hard to sympathize with as a viewer. Even when you realize that there might be a decent guy behind this broken shell, he remains too unapproachable for most viewers. You'd rather wish success on the members of his team and the people who still believe in him despite all the setbacks and abuse. But Adam himself is rather unsuitable as a character with whom one feels sympathy, compassion and empathy.

The film itself is entertainingly average as a mixture of drama and comedy. There are some very nicely filmed scenes that make your mouth water in the cinema hall. The hustle and bustle in the star kitchen seems very authentic and is staged extremely rousing in places. In addition, there are some scenes in which the humor of the film works wonderfully. In such moments, the entertainment value of this cinematic cooking show skyrockets enormously and you can feel what a beautiful film is hidden here. But just as Adam Jones keeps getting in his own way with his own ego, his airs and graces, which get tiresome in the long run, also get in the way of the film's entertainment value.

The character at one point just comes across as a spoiled drama queen. His problems and his fears are hardly comprehensible for the viewer or at some point you just don't care. It's a real pity that the whole movie suffers from this. Because the actors are all very good, the production is solid and the story itself isn't boring or uninteresting. Nevertheless: a bad movie is not The Intoxication of the Stars because of that. If you don't expect more than nice entertainment with a few amusing moments and tasty pictures, you'll still be well served here in the end. And that's why, despite all the weaknesses, it just gets a: Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp