Watching on Wednesday: No Reservations

Title: No Reservations
Type: Movie
Age Group: Teens +
Release Year: 2007
My Rating: 3/5

Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is the master chef at a fine dine restaurant. She is seriously dedicated to her work and refuses to let anyone get in the way. She would immediately snap at whoever thinks her food is not cooked properly and has zero tolerance for foolishness in her kitchen.

On an unexpected day, her sister dies in a car accident on the way to visit her. Kate's niece, Zoe (Abigail Breslin), is left alone with no parents and is now in her care.

Kate takes a couple of days off as she tries to adjust her life with her sister's daughter. She comes back to discover that her boss has hired a new chef during her absence. Nick (Aaron Eckhart) is a fun and laid-back guy who likes to goof off once in awhile; the type of person Kate does not welcome in her kitchen. Thinking that he is there to steal her position, she refuses to acknowledge him. Meanwhile at home, she has no idea on how to take care of Zoe, who is missing her mother dearly. After bringing her to the restaurant, Zoe becomes friends with Nick. Soon enough, the two will impact her life more than she could ever imagined.

As you could likely tell, this is a romantic drama but with a food theme. The story is cute and in a way, predictable. I think Catherine plays brilliantly as the master chef who is constantly wanting everything to be in perfect order. My problem with this movie lies with Zoe. Abigail does her role perfectly as a dramatic kid who makes fusses over everything. Except she did it a bit too well. I personally am not a fan of children around the age where they can walk and talk. Especially hate it when they get mad at everything and make it like the world is going to end if something bad happens to them. Zoe aggravated me throughout the movie and I seriously wanted to pull her out of the screen just to kill her. (Such murderous intentions!) If the plot revolved around something else instead of a child, I think I would have enjoyed it much more. Otherwise, it's a good chick flick movie that I think a woman beyond her teens would enjoy very much.