Spinning Plates

6.4

The food-centric documentary centers around three different restaurants, all various degrees of interesting. The driving force of the film is Grant Achatz and his Chicago eatery Alinea. A world famous chef diagnosed with tongue cancer creates perfect dramatic tension but thankfully the film does not dottle on what could easily become documentary passe. Instead, we are taken into the exciting world of food experimentation inside one of the best restaurants in the world. The story could easily fill a feature-length documentary and is dragged down by its two generic companions.

The film maintains a rigid pace throughout, devoting equal time to each restaurant. Because the other two segments are nowhere near as interesting as Grant's, the film suffers for its democracy. Iowa's Breitbach's is a community-centric restaurant that moved from a troubled past full of bad luck to a plateau of easy living. This story's drama happens entirely in flashback, while the owner tearfully reminisces over the restaurant's multiple destructions. Not only does this weaken the film but the remaining segments on Breitbach's lack drama in their depiction of Iowa's way of life.

The final segment revolving around a small Mexican family joint, La Cocina can be taken at face value. Sure, I sympathize with the struggling Mexican family and their troubles, but the story offers nothing new or interesting and ends up being, for better or worse, a sob story. The overall film is a well-made, evenly-paced look at various food cultures across the country. It doesn't rank with the best of them, but is still interesting.