''The Hundred-Foot Journey'' is a 2014 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Lasse Hallström Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all the music videos by the pop group ABBA, and subsequently became a feature film director. He was nominated for an Academ ...

from a screenplay written by

Steven Knight Steven Knight (born 1 April 1959) is a British screenwriter, film director and film producer. Knight wrote the screenplays for the films ''Closed Circuit'', '' Dirty Pretty Things'', and '' Eastern Promises'', and also wrote and directed the ...

, adapted from Richard C. Morais' 2010 novel of the same name. It stars

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom ...

Om Puri Om Prakash Puri (18 October 1950 – 6 January 2017) was an Indian actor who appeared in mainstream commercial Hindi films as well as Bengali, Kannada,English,Punjabi and one Telugu film, as well as independent and art films and also starred ...

Manish Dayal Manish Patel (born June 17, 1983), known professionally as Manish Dayal, is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Raj Kher in The CW hit teen series '' 90210'' as well as in the films '' The Hundred Foot Journey'' (2014) and '' Vic ...

, and

Charlotte Le Bon Charlotte Le Bon (born 4 September 1986) is a Canadian actress, artist, former model and television presenter. She is known for her work in the Canal+ talk show '' Le Grand Journal'', and the films '' Yves Saint Laurent'', '' The Hundred-Foot J ...

, and is about a battle in a French village between two restaurants that are directly across the street from each other: a new Indian restaurant owned by an Indian emigrant family and an established

French restaurant French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...

with a

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

owned by a French woman. Produced by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

and

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...

for

DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG and formerly DreamWorks Studios, commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film company and distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994 as a liv ...

through their respective production companies,

Amblin Entertainment Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marsha ...

and Harpo Films (first relaunch film), in association with

Participant Media Participant Media, LLC is an American Film industry, film production company founded in 2004 by Jeffrey Skoll, dedicated to entertainment intended to spur social change. The company finances and co-produces film and television content, as well as ...

and

Reliance Entertainment Reliance Entertainment Pvt Ltd is an Indian media and entertainment company. It is a division of Reliance Group, handling its media and entertainment business, across content and distribution platforms. The company was founded on 15 February 20 ...

, the film was released by

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures, Inc. was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featu ...

on August 8, 2014, and grossed $89.5 million at the worldwide box office.

Plot

The

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Konkani Kadam family runs a restaurant in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. As a child, the second-oldest son, Hassan, would shop with his mother at the market, where he was adept at picking the highest-quality food. Now a young man, he is in training to replace her as the restaurant's main cook. When a mob attacks and burns down the restaurant after a disputed election, his mother dies in the fire. Seeking

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

in Europe, the Kadams first settle in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, but they dislike the climate and their house, which is right next to

Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...

, so they depart for mainland Europe. Near St. Antonin in the

Midi-Pyrénées Midi-Pyrénées (; oc, Miègjorn-Pirenèus or ; es, Mediodía-Pirineos) is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Occitania. It was the largest region of Metropolitan France by a ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the brakes on the Kadam's van fail. Marguerite, a local woman, passes by and helps tow the van to town. She invites the family into her apartment while they deal with the auto repair shop and arrange lodgings for the night, and she treats them to a tray of delicious food she made using fresh, local ingredients. The next morning, Hassan follows his father, Abbu, to an abandoned property they passed the night before. A restaurant had been there, but it failed because Le Saule Pleureur ("The Weeping Willow"), an upscale

with a

, is located just across the street, a hundred feet away. Abbu buys the land anyway, as he is confident the Indian food Hassan will cook for their restaurant will attract customers. Naming their restaurant Maison Mumbai, the Kadam family renovates the property. One day, Madame Mallory, the proprietor of Saule Pleureur, visits and asks to see their menu. Abbu hesitates, but Hassan gladly gives it to her in case she wishes to dine with them sometime. When she buys all of the ingredients the Kadams need from the local market on the day of their grand opening, a war of sabotage and complaints to the mayor of the village erupts between Abbu and Mallory. While this is going on, Hassan asks Marguerite, who is a

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the ...

at Saule Pleureur, to help him learn about French cooking, and they develop feelings for each other. The war between the restaurants peaks on

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In French, it is formally called the (; "French National Celebration"); legally it is known as (; "t ...

, when one of Mallory's chefs, Jean-Pierre, and two others spray-paint "La France aux Français" ("France to the French") on the outer wall of Maison Mumbai and firebomb the covered outdoor eating area. Hassan catches them in the act and scares them off, but his hands get burned. Mallory, deducing who is responsible, dismisses Jean-Pierre and personally scrubs the graffiti off the wall. While she is cleaning, Hassan offers to make her an omelette, which is how Marguerite said Mallory interviews potential chefs. As his hands are bandaged, Hassan instructs Mallory how to make the omelet his way, which uses unusual spices and ingredients. She is so impressed by the result that she invites him to work at Saule Pleureur so he can get a more classical training to supplement his natural ability. Abbu is initially against the move, but ultimately allows Hassan to go. Marguerite accuses Hassan of using her to help him get his new position, and they compete for Mallory's approval in the kitchen. Hassan outshines Marguerite, and his cooking, which evolves into a unique French-Indian fusion, results in Saule Pleureur receiving a second Michelin star. The award gets him national attention, and he accepts a job at a fancy Parisian

molecular cuisine Molecular gastronomy is the scientific approach of nutrition from primarily the perspective of chemistry. The composition (molecular structure), properties (mass, viscosity, etc) and transformations (chemical reactions, reactant products) of a ...

restaurant. While he is gone, Abbu and Mallory begin seeing each other. In Paris, Hassan's style quickly draws attention, and there is speculation that he may bring his new restaurant a third Michelin star. Over time, however, he becomes increasingly lonely and distracted by thoughts of his family and Marguerite, so one day he returns to St. Antonin. He tells Marguerite he has a business proposition for her and asks her to help him cook a dish he has not made for a long time. They prepare it in the kitchen at Saule Pleureur, and, when the Kadams and some friends arrive for dinner, everyone is surprised to see Hassan. Mallory announces she is giving him control of Saule Pleureur, and he says he is moving back to the village to run the restaurant with Marguerite. Hassan does not answer the call that will reveal whether the restaurant in Paris received a third Michelin star, saying he will earn a third star with his friends and family. The group carries their meal across the road to eat at Maison Mumbai.

Cast

as Madame Mallory *

as Abbu "Papa" Kadam *

as Hassan Haji Kadam **

Rohan Chand Rohan Chand (born January 25, 2004) is an American teen actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Jack and Jill (2011 film), Jack and Jill'', ''Lone Survivor (film), Lone Survivor'', and ''Bad Words (film), Bad Words''. He also appeared in the " ...

as Hassan Kadam (7 years old) *

as Marguerite *

Amit Shah Amit Anil Chandra Shah (born 22 October 1964) is an Indian politician currently serving as the Minister of Home Affairs since 2019 and the first Minister of Co-operation of India since 2021. He served as the President of the Bharatiya Janata P ...

as Mansur Kadam *

Farzana Dua Elahe Farzana Dua Elahe ( bn, ফারজানা দুআ এলাহি; 9 February 1990 is an English actress and music DJ. She is best known for her role of Parveen Abbasi in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Early life Elahe studied at ...

as Mahira Kadam * Dillon Mitra as Mukthar Kadam * Aria Pandya as Aisha Begum Kadam *

Michel Blanc Michel Blanc (born 16 April 1952) is a French actor, writer and director. He is noted for his roles of losers and hypochondriacs. He is frequently associated with Le Splendid, which he co-founded, along with Thierry Lhermitte, Josiane Balask ...

as Mayor *

Clément Sibony Clément Sibony (born 30 November 1976) is a French actor and film director. He has appeared in more than 60 films and television shows since 1991. He won the award for Best Actor at the 22nd Moscow International Film Festival for his role in '' ...

as Jean-Pierre * Vincent Elbaz as Paul, manager of the Parisian

restaurant * Shuna Lemoine as Mayor's Wife *

Juhi Chawla Juhi Chawla (born 13 November 1967) is an Indian actress, film producer and entrepreneur. She established herself as one of the leading actresses of Hindi cinema from the late 1980s through the early 2000s. Recognised for her comic timing and v ...

as Ammi "Mama" Kadam (guest appearance)

Production

Prior to filming, actors

and

spent a considerable amount of time going to restaurants and observing and learning in kitchens.Julia Bainbridge (May 13, 201
What Happens When an Indian Chef Makes Beef Bourguignon
'

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Mana ...

'' Retrieved. May 14, 2014 To create the food featured in the film, producer Juliet Blake consulted Indian-born chef Floyd Cardoz, who practiced "fusing together two cultures through cooking."

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as ...

for the film began on September 23, 2013, in

Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val (; oc, Sent Antonin) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Having played an influential and somewhat bellicose role in the history of the region from the 12th to th ...

, and there was extensive filming at scenic locales in

. Some scenes were shot in the

Cité du Cinéma The Cité du Cinéma or Studios of Paris is a film studio complex originally supported and founded by the film director and producer Luc Besson, located in Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris, in a renovated power plant, commissioned in ...

studio complex, located in Saint-Denis, north of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. After nine weeks of shooting in France, the production moved to

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. To make Indian actress

, who plays the wife of

's character at the start of the film, look 15 years older than her actual age, the filmmakers aged her digitally in post-production using techniques such as visual refactoring.

Soundtrack

A.R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

composed the music for the film.

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records ...

released a soundtrack on August 12, 2014.

Release

The first trailer for the film was released on May 13, 2014. Its

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

premiere was held at the Ziegfeld Theatre on August 4, 2014, and it was released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on August 8.Jessica Goodman (May 13, 201
'The Hundred-Foot Journey' Trailer Will Make Your Mouth Water
Retrieved. May 14, 2014

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It h ...

distributed ''The Hundred-Foot Journey'' globally through its

label, except for territories in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, where rights were sold by Mister Smith Entertainment to independent distributors.

distributed the film in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. In

, the film was released as ''Les recettes du bonheur'' (''Recipes for Happiness'').

Home media

The film was released by

Touchstone Home Entertainment Touchstone may refer to: * Touchstone (assaying tool), a stone used to identify precious metals * Touchstone (metaphor), a means of assaying relative merits of a concept Entertainment * ''Touchstone'' (album), a 1982 album by Chick Corea * T ...

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

and DVD on December 2, 2014.

Reception

Box office

''The Hundred-Foot Journey'' grossed $10,979,290 in the U.S. its opening weekend, finishing in 4th place at the box office. It went on to earn $54,240,821 in the U.S. and $35,273,632 internationally for a worldwide box office total of $89,514,453.

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film has an approval rating of 68% based on reviews from 148 critics, with an average score of 6.2/10; the site's critics consensus reads "Director

does lovely work and

is always worth watching, but ''The Hundred-Foot Journey'' travels predictable ground already covered by countless feel-good dramedies." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 55 out of 100 based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. ''

The Wrap ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

's''

Alonso Duralde Alonso Duralde (born May 18, 1967) is an American film critic, author, and podcaster. Personal life Duralde was born in East Point, Georgia, the youngest of seven children born to Spanish immigrants. He attended Vanderbilt University and curre ...

called the film "a surprisingly bland slumgullion of food porn and emotional manipulation, filtered through the middlebrow sensibilities of director Lasse Hallström." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

Justin Chang Justin Choigee Chang (born January 3, 1983) is an American film critic and columnist for the ''Los Angeles Times''. He previously worked for ''Variety''. Early life Justin Chang graduated from the University of Southern California in 2004. Chan ...

called it "the most soothing brand of cinematic comfort food." Edwin Arnaudin of the ''

Asheville Citizen-Times The ''Asheville Citizen-Times'' is an American, English language daily newspaper of Asheville, North Carolina. It was formed in 1991 as a result of a merger of the morning ''Asheville Citizen'' and the afternoon ''Asheville Times''. It is owned ...

'' gave the film a "B-plus".

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's film critic Kenneth Turan said the film was entertaining, while criticizing the predictability of the story and "wish ngthat the film had more of the messy juices of life flowing through its veins".

Accolades

For her performance in the film,

was nominated for a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

in the category Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hundred-Foot Journey (film), The 2014 films 2014 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films 2010s English-language films English-language Indian films Cooking films Films scored by A. R. Rahman Films about food and drink Films based on American novels Films directed by Lasse Hallström Films produced by Steven Spielberg Films set in France Films set in London Films set in Mumbai Films shot in France Films about Indian Americans Amblin Entertainment films Reliance Entertainment films Participant (company) films DreamWorks Pictures films Touchstone Pictures films Films with screenplays by Steven Knight Films about chefs Harpo Productions films Constantin Film films American films based on actual events Films produced by Oprah Winfrey Entertainment One films Films shot in India 2010s American films