At The Movies: Grande Maison Paris’ star is the food, Happy Gilmore 2 back with sophomoric humour

Grande Maison Paris (PG13)

111 minutes, opens on Aug 7 exclusively at The Projector
★★★☆☆

The story: Top chef Natsuki Obana (Takuya Kimura) opens a fine dining establishment in France, following the events of the TBS Television serial La Grande Maison Tokyo (2019) and the special episode La Grande Maison Tokyo Special (2024). He is chasing a third Michelin star, in the world capital of haute cuisine, no less.

Grande Maison Paris serves reheated kitchen drama tropes, all the usual pressure, camaraderie and setbacks in the pursuit of gastronomic perfection under hard-driving artisan Obana. Is there ever any other kind of movie chef?

Director Ayuko Tsukahara’s feature sequel to her hit series filmed on location in Paris also returns loyal sous chef Rinko (Kyoka Suzuki).

Erstwhile garcon Rikutaro (Ikki Sawamura) is now the hall manager.

And K-pop rapper Ok Taec-yeon of boy band 2PM joins the staff as a passionate patissier, whose violent entanglements with loan sharks add to their woes. A banquet for the beau monde is a bust, and Obana will lose his restaurant unless he gets his stars by first overcoming his ego and outsider status.

“Do you think a Frenchman would be able to get the best ingredients if he opens a sushi restaurant in Tokyo?” asks a local wholesaler.

Obana’s rejoinder is to celebrate the city’s multiculturalism. Hence, he brings together his dedicated transnational team to reinvigorate Gastronomie Francaise with their Japanese and Korean culinary traditions.

Expect their creations to be an instant triumph in a glossy, feel-good melodrama that may be enjoyed by those without a Disney+ subscription to The Bear (2022 to present) and do not question why French epicures have never before had fusion cuisine.

Hot take: The luscious food on show, supervised by three-Michelin-starred Kei Kobayashi of restaurant Kei in Paris, is better than the show itself.

Happy Gilmore 2 (PG13)

118 minutes, streaming on Netflix
★★★☆☆

The story: Adam Sandler swings at a belated sequel to his hole-in-one comedy about an unconventional hockey bro-turned-golf legend.

The 1996 American farce Happy Gilmore was a happy occasion for both the star and his title character. It made Sandler one of Hollywood’s most bankable comedians, while Happy ended up contentedly retired with his wife Virginia (Julie Bowen) and their five kids after winning six PGA Tour Championships.

But then, Happy accidentally drives a shot at Virginia’s head, killing her.

Eleven years later in Happy Gilmore 2, by Sandler’s Murder Mystery (2019) director Kyle Newacheck, he is a broke, devastated drunk stocking supermarket shelves until he loses that job too.

A comeback is his only option to raise money for his daughter’s (Sunny Sandler) ballet school fees.

It will be his redemption, competing in a PGA tournament against the breakaway golf league of an odious energy-drink huckster (Benny Safdie), whose halitosis is a running gag. The humour is still proudly lowbrow. But it is good-natured, with the older, shaggy Happy such a sad underdog, former nemesis Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald) escapes from a mental hospital to become his ally.

Latino music supernova Bad Bunny, playing Happy’s clueless new caddy, is particularly endearing among the callbacks and cameos, who include The Substance (2024) ingenue Margaret Qualley, American pop sensation Taylor Swift’s football star boyfriend Travis Kelce and Sandler’s buddies like actor Steve Buscemi.

Why them and why so many? Just because.

Plus, there is a full roster of pro golfers appearing as themselves, from John Daly and Jack Nicklaus to Nick Fowler and Rory McIlroy.

The love of the game is genuine as the community unites to save tradition from the upstarts.

Hot take: The humour is sophomoric though jovial. No shame at catching yourself chortling.