Journey Into DVD: No Reservations

The virtues of "No Reservations" are modest, but then so are its drawbacks. It's a passable romantic comedy about two outstanding chefs: a woman who may or may not be Welsh (it's hard to discern from Catherine Zeta-Jones' performance) and a man who has a butt chin.

This is a remake of a recent foreign film named "Mostly Martha," and while I realize that in many circles that automatically makes the American version inferior, the awfulness of the original title must make you want to resist making any derogatory puns about the moniker of the modern version.

I wasn't bored or irritated watching "No Reservations," and while that's faint praise, many modern "rom coms" don't even pass that test. It's just that nothing much happens. Zeta-Jones' character is driven and has no room for a personal life. So of course she winds up taking in her niece and meeting a free-spirited man who is, well, perfect. What do you suppose happens?

It's not hard to see why Aaron Eckhart signed on as the male lead. His character gets to play kissy-face with the Z-woman and is just generally an all-around Superman. He cooks brilliantly, he's charming with kids, he's patient and kind, he's professionally gracious, and he has a classic butt chin. In other words, all us guys are gonna have to kind of hate him unless our womenfolk make it clear they know It's Only a Movie and this kind of fellow does not exist--nor should he.

As I said, though, not much happens apart from the falling in love. The professional crisis that comes about is resolved in about two minutes after some half-hearted attempt at manufacturing conflict. The personal conflict that is supposed to make Zeta-Jones believe she is totally inept as a surrogate parent? She's a little late in picking up the little girl from school.

Even the food isn't all that appealing. Since so much of the film is set in kitchens-both at home and at a fine dining establishment--I expected watching it would leave me desperate for a bite. I got nothing, though, as most of what we saw were fancy-shmancy dessert things and sauces. Eckhart makes some kind of pasta thing, I think, but I kept wishing these world-class chefs would just pop in a pizza so the camera could linger over it.

No, the food isn't a draw, and not much happens in "No Reservations," but what does is pleasant enough if you're in the right mood for it. Even the makers of the DVD seem to know what they have here, bothering only to include a Food Network promo special as a token extra.