No Reservations

Scott Hicks was not working from a novel or from a fresh idea. Carol Fuchs reworked the original screenplay Sandra Nettelbeck had written for her 2001 German film Mostly Martha. The clearest change is musical. The German version was assembled from existing ECM recordings, with Keith Jarrett and Arvo Pärt pieces and Manfred Eicher credited as music consultant. Here Philip Glass wrote an original score and opera sits on top of it: Nick arrives in the kitchen miming a Pavarotti recording of Nessun Dorma, and Puccini’s O mio babbino caro and Verdi’s Celeste Aida become his signature. The second change is the ending. In the original, the Italian father of the child turns up and takes her home to Italy, and the chef follows to bring her back. This version removes that father altogether and closes with the three of them opening a small bistro together. Critics and ticket buyers split. Rotten Tomatoes approval sits at 42 percent, CinemaScore polling returned a B+, and the opening weekend audience was 63 percent female. A good fit if you want grief and kitchen discipline working inside the same scene, with the argument carried on over a plate. Not for anyone looking for the Italian stretch of Mostly Martha or for its harder landing, because neither survives here.