Burnt Trailer (2015)

Trailer for Burnt.

Chef Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) had it all – and lost it. A two-star Michelin rockstar with the bad habits to match, the former enfant terrible of the Paris restaurant scene did everything different every time out, and only ever cared about the thrill of creating explosions of taste. To land his own kitchen and that third elusive Michelin star though, he’ll need the best of the best on his side, including the beautiful Helene (Sienna Miller). Burnt is a remarkably funny and emotional story about the love of food, the love between two people, and the power of second chances.

The kitchen used in the film is a real working chef’s kitchen with all of the real hazards and dangers including flaming stoves and very sharp knives. Real professional chefs were cast as extras in the kitchen to give the film more realism and keep the actors on their toes.

After the film was wrapped, Chef consultant Marcus Wareing, who was needed to ensure all realism and proper techniques, chose Sienna Miller as the actor who he would want in his kitchen because she demonstrated the most culinary skills of all of the actors in the film.

Bradley Cooper’s character, Adam Jones, gives up alcohol. Cooper in real life quit drinking alcohol at the age of 29.

Adam Jones also speaks French due to his time living in France, Cooper is fluent in French.

Never has the sound of whisk whipping at a rapid pace been so nerve racking. After playing famous bad boy chef Anthony Bourdain in the short-lived television show Kitchen Confidential, Bradley Cooper picks up his knives and bad attitude once again to play the similarly loose cannoned chef, Adam Jones in the drama, Burnt. Jones is so dedicated to being the best chef there is that he drops out of high school, moves to France, makes impressive food, and spirals out of control with drug use. Now, he is returning to the scene and trying to make his comeback.

The trailer is intense and it is hard not to chuckle if only a little bit because of the dramatics displayed in a film about people cooking food. I am sure the kitchen of fine restaurants is an anxiety heavy place, and there have been plenty of films and television shows that have supported that idea, but the entire trailer had me saying, “Calm down buddy, it’s only food, it’s not the end of the world”. Food is awesome but if this much anger and anxiety go into making it? Yikes!

Bradley Cooper is a fine actor and easy on the eyes, so there is always something to look forward to in his films. Sienna Miller also proves herself time and again when she pops in a film, and there is Emma Thomson to top it all off. Burnt has a stellar cast set in an interesting industry. Assuming the entire film is not as anxiety inducing as the trailer, Burnt may be worth a few Michelin stars.