By now, it seems like a perennial contender for Oscars is none other than Bradley Cooper. He’s on quite the run of late, between his collaborations with David O. Russell, the stunning success that was American Sniper, and just being one of our most charismatic A-list stars. Later this year, he’ll look to again appeal to Academy voters, not just with a supporting turn for Russell in Joy, but also in the culinary comedy/drama Burnt, which has taken a bit to develop. Cooper has helped shepherd it to the screen (it’s now test screening, leading to some early reactions to his performance), and judging from the recent Trailer that dropped (which you can see at the end of the piece), this is going to be one intense flick. If things break the right way for it, you could also see it becoming another Oscar vehicle for Cooper.
The film is a look at the obsession that can go into being a chef. Adam Jones (Cooper), was once considered to be one of the best chefs in the world, but his fast rising career flamed out when he got lost in diva antics, drug addictions, and other such bad behavior. Now having cleaned himself up, he’s determined to essay a rags to riches redemption story by taking a top level restaurant and making it even better, earning the elusive full level Michelin Star rating in the process. John Wells directs from a script by Steven Knight (with a story credit going to Michael Kalesniko), while the cast besides Cooper includes Daniel Brühl, Lily James, Sienna Miller, Omar Sy, Emma Thompson, Uma Thurman, Alicia Vikander, and more.
Without question, the big selling point here for Burnt is Cooper. He’s become one of our bigger A-list stars over the last handful of years, so anything he chooses to make is of course noteworthy in and of itself, but this one seems especially worthy of our time. Not only is he again playing a chef after having done so briefly on television before he hit it big, he’s utilizing his star power as the sole big star here. He’s carried movies before, but perhaps never to this extent. The film could be an interesting test of his drawing power, not only at the box office but with awards season voters as well.
Awards wise, it could be Cooper or bust for this flick. That being said, if everything is top notch here, there will at least be campaigns all over the place. Best Picture, Best Director (for Wells), Best Actor (for Cooper), Best Supporting Actor (for Sy, if I had to guess), Best Supporting Actress (for Miller, if I had to guess), Best Original Screenplay (for Kalesniko and Knight), as well as Best Film Editing could all be possibilities. My hunch is that Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company will make this a targeted campaign on Cooper’s behalf. After all, this film was originally just called Adam Jones, so the focus will almost certainly be on Cooper through and through.
We’re still more than two months out from getting to see Burnt, so this is all just purely speculation at this point. Still, a fall release date for a baity film starring Cooper and distributed by TWC sounds like something not to underestimate. We’ll see what ultimately happens at the end of October, but for now, I’d keep this one at least in the back of your mind. Sit tight for more on the movie when the release date is a bit closer, but take a look at the Trailer and be sure to look for further coverage between now and then…
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