Burnt

There's no doubt that Bradley Cooper goes all-in performance wise for Burnt in which he plays a chef psychotically determined to get his third Michelin star. Too bad it's in service of a character that's hard to root for when we the audience are supposed to be doing so. In actuality, his character is a totally unlikeable prick. After going sober for over two years and shucking a million oysters as penance for his previous bad behavior, Adam Jones (Cooper) heads to Paris, intent upon regaining his status as a legendary chef and attaining that hallowed “third star” status. He starts his quest by terrorizing restaurant owner Tony (Daniel Bruhl), a former friend turned enemy who had a crush on him but now hates him. Jones sets up a scenario with a food critic (Uma Thurman) that would probably get most people arrested for fraud, but in the movies it gets him control of a kitchen. Sienna Miller, Cooper's costar in American Sniper, shows up as a cook Jones intimidates into working for him. Of course, they fall in love, for this is a clichéd piece-of-crap movie. It's hard to see an actor like Cooper laboring in a film that simply doesn't back him up. This sucker is a gas stove with no gas.