LA COCINA
(director/writer: Alonso Ruizpalacios; screenwriter: based on the play “The Kitchen” by Arnold Wesker; cinematographer: Juan Pablo Ramirez; editor: Yibran Asuad; music: Tomas Barreiro; cast: Anna Diaz (Estela), Raul Briones Carmona (Pedro), Rooney Mara (Julia), Eduardo Olmos (Luis), Oded Fehr (Rashid, Owner), Motell Foster (Nonzo), James Waterston (Mark), Spenser Granese (Max), Lee R. Sellars (Executive Chef), Esteban Caicedo (Raton, busboy); Runtime: 139; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Ivan Orlic, Ramiro Ruiz, Lauren Mann; Picturehouse; 2024-in B/W-Mexico/USA-in Spanish & English)
“In this bleak film, reality is a bad meal to swallow.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Mexican director-writer Alonso Ruizpalacios (“A Cop Movie”/”Gueros, Museo”) bases his spicy drama on the 1957 play “The Kitchen” by the late leftist Brit playwright Arnold Wesker. The bilingual film is the director’s first film in English. The film roasts the American Dream as an illusion, as the drama is set in a busy touristy Times Square kitchen of a restaurant called The Grill. It gets played out as a microcosm of American capitalism and a haven for undocumented immigrants.
The abrasive Pedro (Raul Briones Carmona) is an undocumented Mexican line cook. The white American Julia (Rooney Mara) is a server. An investigation by the accountant (James Waterston) takes place when $800 is missing from the cash register, as the investigation also uncovers the love story between Pedro and Julia.
The oily Luis (Eduardo Olmos), the second-generation Mexican American manager, suspects Pedro stole the money to pay for Julia’s $800 abortion (an abortion he doesn’t want). But Pedro proclaims his innocence. It’s also pointed out the hatred that exists between him and the other cook (Spenser Granese), who he recently pulled a knife on.
Meanwhile the under-aged Spanish-speaking Estela (Anna Diaz), from Pedro’s hometown, turns up unexpectedly at The Grill to get Pedro to put her to work as another undocumented worker in the restaurant.
The more than two dozen characters featured squabble with each other during the lunch hour rush. They find for the most part there’s little chance of escaping their lot in life and accept their lot in life. In this bleak film, reality is a bad meal to swallow.
The film’s lead couple is so obnoxious, it left me turned off.
It played at the Berlin International Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 12/4/2024 GRADE: C+