Celebrated filmmaker Fatih Akin, known for celebrated dramas like HEAD-ON and THE EDGE OF HEAVEN, serves up a delightfully fresh comedy with his latest award-winning film. SOUL KITCHEN is a delicious, free spirited story of food, friends, and rock & roll, winner of the Special Jury Prize and the Young Cinema Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, and a smash with audiences at the Toronto and Tribeca film festivals. SOUL KITCHEN film centers on a likable but hopelessly disorganized
restauranteur, Zinos (co-screenwriter Adam Bousdoukos) whose cafe is second home to a motley crew of lovable eccentrics. When his girlfriend Nadine up and moves to Shanghai, a love-sick Zinos decides to fly after her, leaving his restaurant in the hands of his unreliable ex-con brother Illias. Both decisions turn out disastrous: Illias gambles away the restaurant to a shady real estate agent, and Zinos finds Nadine with a new lover. If the brothers can stop arguing and get it together, the Soul Kitchen might still have one last chance at staying in business. The mayhem that follows is a hilariously entertaining story of self-realization, set to an irresistibly soulful soundtrack. -- (C)IFC
Nicely cast ensembler, centered on a hopelessly disorganized eatery owner and peopled by a weird collection of lovable eccentrics, is pacey entertainment that hardly puts a foot wrong.
Akin perfectly captures the antic pace, eccentric personalities, and fickle fortunes of the restaurant game, and his vision of the Soul Kitchen as an all-night bacchanal is irresistible.
Soul Kitchen, which features a soundtrack laden with American soul and R&B standards, was a hit in Europe, and I suspect many American moviegoers will respond to it as well.
Baked with a lot of lousy music, weak acting, clichéd characters and tropes, 'Soul Kitchen' fails to display any of Akin's talents found in 'Head-On' or 'The Edge of Heaven'
"Soul Kitchen" is like a restaurant where the vibe is friendly, the music is cool, the people are all interesting, and it's so much fun to hang out at that you easily overlook the fact that the food isn't actually all that good.
Director Fatih Akin?s specialty is illuminating the multi-cultural bustle of modern Germany, and here he brings a light touch to Zinos? catastrophic efforts to stay above water.
A great little character-driven comedy, merely another excellent film from a spectacular director who would be a household name if foreign films got the audience they deserved in this country.
There's a breeziness to Soul Kitchen, good performances by Moritz Bleibtreu as Zinos' slippery brother and Birol Unel as his fanatical new chef, and a peppy soundtrack.
Nothing wrong with a tone that mixes tough choices and uneasy laughs. Akin, at the cost of well-written relationships or motivations, splits the difference and botches both.
Akin delivers a fresh, light-hearted comedy with his cast of regulars. I would have liked to see more of Birol Unel's intensity, but this was nicely balanced with the introduction of Anna Bederke. The soundtrack well paces the film.
Super witty, and fun, foreign romp with excellent music direction and a great supporting cast. So if you find yourself pouring over, and desperately sifting through, the recent drivel Hollywood is producing en masse in an attempt to find something acceptable to watch, give this flick a chance. It's refreshing, not too
heavy, and chock full of chuckles!
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