Toast [HD]

Mouth-Watering
If you are on a diet, this is not the film for you. Based on the memoirs of cook and writer Nigel Slater, the movie is a visual culinary feast, detailing his love of food. Raised by a mother who could burn water, Nigel (played as a child by newcomer Oscar Kennedy and as an adolescent by Freddie Highmore) spends his time gazing lovingly at pictures of beautifully prepared dishes. When Mum (Victoria Hamilton) passes away, his father (Ken Stott) takes up with Mrs. Potter (Helena Bonham Carter) who may be a tart, but she cooks like a french chef. The rivalry between Nigel and Mrs. Potter forms the (pardon the pun) meat of the film, as each tries to one-up the other. The leads are uniformly fine (it is especially fun to watch Bonham Carter in this after "The King's Speech"). WARNING: You may begin to feel much like Ken Stott does: overstuffed! As an aside: I purchased this in the PAL format from amazon.co.uk for three pounds, ninety-nine pence, which translated roughly into $6.40...

Toast
It's romantic to imagine that people with exceptional talents also have exceptional stories to tell about those talents. In the case of English food journalist Nigel Slater, it's somewhat true. Based on Slater's autobiographical novel of the same name, Toast recounts the writer's childhood growing up with an asthmatic mother who was such a poor cook that the only dish she ever mastered was, well, toast. When her illness finally gets the best of her, young Nigel and his father welcome a new addition to the family in the form of a housekeeper named Mrs. Potter, who soon wins over Nigel's father and engages Nigel himself in a sort of ongoing culinary rivalry. Toast was just a tad too saccharine for me, but I'll give it 2 stars, because I liked its breezy humor, visual touches, and judicious use of Helena Bonham Carter's talents. It's an unusual coming of age story, but its charms may just work for some.

Dry Toast
If you read a few of the other reviews, you get the plot. Asthmatic (inept cook) wife/sainted mum leaves son and husband behind, in steps married (and great cook)common housekeeper, Mrs. Potter who siezes her opportunity for social advancement - got his heart by way of the lonely widower's stomach, Nigel/and Mrs. Potter clash and compete "culinarily" for dad's affections.

Got that he "likes boys" early on (and women a good deal less) even without the idolized gardner's bum shot and stilted, uncomfortably inserted piggyback ride, and the oddly inserted "ballerina/cook kissing scene"... and did I mention, someone doesn't like girls? to then add the "pouf" name calling by a bullying female character, then the mean (female) teacher who makes him drink his milk and upsets his stomach - he, of course vomits on her. Then, we have bad little girl wants to show him her "knickers". Please, I see the trend. Felt like I was beaten to death with this theme, right to the end...

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