The Chef's Letter

A chef (Colin Firth's brother Jonathan) sits composing a letter. This isn't just an order for the local butcher but, rather a declaration of love to one of his employees. But which one? The young woman (Lauren Steventon), the young man (Layke Anderson) or the sexy sous chef (Ray Fearon)?

The sad thing is that despite some lovely, moody camerawork and nice acting, it is simply hard for the audience to care either way. Director Sybil Mair certainly has an eye for framing and lighting, with each scene carefully captured, but the plot feels half-baked.

There is a brief flurry of dramatic tension - as emotions threaten to boil over, but because the scripting is so sparse, it is hard to see where the pent-up feelings have come from. Also, anyone who has ever worked in the close-quarters, hothouse environment of a kitchen will know it's almost impossible to keep any sort of personal relationship a secret.

There is a lot of potential here - but the audience is left to do far too much work.