Toast

 

Food has had many champions throughout the course of history. The great chefs, the prodigal bakers, the people who just like to eat it. Yes, food-aphelia is nothing new. But never before in this rally to food had such an upsurge of followers, these foodies as they are called (which so many of us are self-proclaimed to be).

Fact.

People like food.

Fact.

If you don't, something is wrong with you.

Facts.

Toast is a biopic about the original foodie, Nigel Slater based on his memoir of the same name. With a love of food that sprung from God knows where, little Nigel lives with his kindhearted mother who is tragically hopeless in the kitchen and his prickly father who he suspects may have grown hard due to malnutrition. Nigel spends his time dreaming of vegetables that don't come in tins and playing make believe store clerk, pulling orders of fresh cheese and produce off the shelves while his father expresses his disappointment and his mother cooks night after night the only thing she can with any sort of success: toast. The three get along as well as they can until Nigel's mother dies. The two men of the house are now left alone to fend for themselves and it is not long before Nigel's father hires a housekeeper, Mrs. Potter played by Helena Bonham Carter, to lend a hand. Unfortunately for our young hero, Mrs. Potter has it in mind to make her position a bit more permanent and through the dirtiest montage of cleaning I've ever seen, earns a place for herself in Mr. Slater's affections. 

Fast-forward a couple years and Nigel's father has relocated the little patchwork family to the country where his son's life is made miserable by the cruel Mrs. Potter. The only positive is that this woman is a fabulous cook. Only there's a catch here too, she uses her cooking as a form of warfare as Nigel (now played by Freddie Highmore) has discovered his own knack for cooking and the two vie for Mr. Slater's love and attention through his stomach. 

This food in this movie was pitched to be "jumping off the screen, you can almost smell it, almost taste it". Unfortunately this is not actually true, excepting perhaps the controversial lemon meringue pie that makes reappearance after reappearance as Nigel tries to perfect and improve upon his rival's secret weapon. But hats off to Oscar Kennedy who plays young Nigel and is the real star of the movie along with his cast of little friends, in particular Warrel played by Frasier Huckle. These young actors deliver with such a wonderfully offhand yet childish air, you can only be amazed by the things they observe and the matter of fact way they put them. Highmore too holds his own as the straight-faced older Nigel who is just laying in wait until the moment arrives where he can break free of Mrs. Potter and Bonham Carter is just so good at being bad, no surprise there.

Overall the movie is worth a watch but if you go and see it in theaters just make sure you sneak yourself in a buttered scone. Believe me, about halfway through you'll be glad you did.