User Reviews

Today's Special is a movie with a great mix of humor, family, romance and humanity. It has nothing that I consider objectionable but I also think that it has very little that will appeal to kids. Although the end is a bit predictable and a bit slow at times (thus making it not a 10), it's one of the most entertaining films I've seen this year (and I've seen a lot of movies this year).

I would like to know why I don't remember seeing Naseeruddin Shah (who plays the memorable character Akbar (the cab driver/chef))in a movie before. He's the best of an excellent cast.

I found myself caring a great deal for the main character Samir (Assif Mandiv) which doesn't happen often in most movies I see (even the good ones). Today's Special centers entirely on the characters and the story. If your looking for a movie with lots of computer generated images (CGI) and/or other special effects and/or stunts and/or violence and/or action and/or sex, go see something else.

It was nice to see a movie that doesn't stereotype Muslims as terrorists and that many in the audience clapped for when it was over. I think most adults who enjoy a few very good laughs and a good story will enjoy this movie a great deal.

This is a heartfelt, amusing film starring Aasif Mandvi, mostly known for his work as a Daily Show correspondent. It's not quite as funny as I expected from a comedian of his caliber; not because he tried and failed, but because it's more of a quirky story of a personal journey. But there were definitely a good number of lines that were so funny I had to repeat them out loud to myself. It's a bit slow in the beginning (could have used some tighter editing), but give it some time to build. Naseeruddin Shah is magic, as always. If you know his work, nothing more needs to be said. If not, watch this and enjoy. (And I gotta say, I think he looks damn good for his age!) It is not a coincidence that the song Akbar (Shah) is listening to when Samir (Mandvi) first meets him is from a classic Hindi film in which the character says that although all his clothes come from other countries, his heart is still Indian. Samir has tried to cut himself off from Indian traditions, even while his parents are attempting to shove them down his throat; the more they push, the more he pulls away, and vise versa. Throughout the film, with help from unexpected places, he learns to reconcile his western life with his heritage, and appreciate where he came from.

"Today's Special" will be most appealing (appetizing?) to people who love to cook, but anyone who likes Indian food is bound to like it. Aasif Mandvi (the senior Asian correspondent on "The Daily Show") plays an Indian-American sous chef who starts taking an interest in his own culture's cuisine. The movie is half look at South Asian food, half look at Indian-American families (with pushy parents). Naseeruddin Shah's taxi driver/gourmet chef is the funniest character in the movie, the perfect contrast to Mandvi's nervous nice guy.

It's a really fun movie. It was of course impressive to see Madhur Jaffrey - herself a doyenne of Indian cuisine - but another cast member who caught my eye was Kumar Pallana, who died last year. He owned an Indian restaurant in Dallas, and his customers included Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, who cast him in "Bottle Rocket", "Rushmore", "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "The Darjeeling Limited". Steven Spielberg also gave him a supporting role in "The Terminal".

Anyway, I recommend this movie.

This is an enjoyable light and fun comedy to watch. Nothing too deep. It has cliches, a bit cheesy at moments but still very watchable with good laughs. The cast is pretty good and music is catchy.

Samir (Aasif Mandvi) is a sous chef at an upscale modern New York restaurant cooking western cuisine. He works tirelessly and the head chef takes all the credit. When his expected promotion to head chef is taken away, he quits and decides to go to Paris to work for one of the greats. When his father has a heart-attack, he has to take over the family restaurant and hires a taxi driver (Naseeruddin Shah) to be his new cook. He falls for single mom Carrie (Jess Weixler).

Aasif is playing it with a bit too much anger. That particular spice can be off-putting if there is too much of it in the meal. He needs to dial it back a dash. There is some fine food porn early on but I'm surprised that the movie doesn't do more with the Indian cooking. The most memorable part of the cooking is the live chickens. That brings up the evolution of Samir's food. When the hipsters walk away from Samir's dad, I thought the movie would have Samir add Indian flavors to his western cooking to create a new food fusion. It wouldn't be a revolutionary idea but at least, it would look like it. I figured that his new old world cooking would be the talk of the town and overshadow his old boss with the 25 year old protégé. That's the move. Everything else is rather conventional despite its ethnic flavors. The flavors are interesting but it needs something more.

The excellent comedic talent, Aasif Mandvi, plays a lovable character named Samir in a very funny comedy about Samir's life in New York. He works as a sous chef in a nice restaurant with the hope of becoming a full chef in his boss's newly opening restaurant. When that position fails to materialize for him, Samir quits in a huff and decides to move to Paris for an unpaid position with a famous chef there.

Not too surprisingly, it turns out he needs to stay in New York because of a family crisis (I won't say what) and Samir's help is needed with the family business. A thoroughly delightful story follows that is full of heart and full of humor, for a totally enjoyable experience! Highly recommended!

I don't think I've seen quite so many trite clichés of food based rom coms packed into a single movie, or at least noticed them so badly. They've got a decent case against the 2014 movie Chef http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2883512/reference which pretty much stole the vibe of this movie on the food side of things. The Cliché family aspects we've seen so many times, the formulaic food as art tropes, standard rom com touchstones, they're all here exactly as they have been in many other movies before and obviously after (see aforementioned Chef 2014). They were just so damn strong in this film, overpowering, overwhelming to the point of it making me feel irritable and uncomfortable. The only saving graces here were the original Indian soundtrack and some of the Indian culture insights, which did go deeper than standard Hollywood tokenism. The production values as far as cinematography and sound were fine, just the tired and pilfered template they pasted it all over was a waste of everyone's time. I wanted it to be over round about when it started.

Rating and review:***** A great movie for the weekend. Funny and also will definitely stir your appetite or may even motivate the Chef hiding within you to get into the kitchen if you are a foodie !! I enjoyed and chuckled with the idiosyncratic behavior of the characters in the movie. It well depicted, with humor the generation gap of ethnic Indians raised in the West. No one else could have fit into the role Naseeruddin Shah played. cheers ! I wish more movies of this genre are made. I love the concept of blending into the Western culture while preserving the roots of ones own as show in this movie. That makes people more interesting. Enough of monotonous meat and potatoes I say !!

Lighter than light, frothier than froth, sweeter than sweet, with an impressive lack of attention to trivial things like character, continuity, or motivation. This film wasn't written so much as it was constructed out of existing bits and pieces, with any element of surprise or originality clinically excised. On the bright side, it was slickly filmed and lit, with some nice food shots which rescued it from being rated zero stars.

I wanted to like this movie. Independent, "small" film, some talented actors, and about a subject I love, all things that would predispose me to forgive minor flaws. Nope, even with that head-start, "Today's Special" made me wish that I had that 2 hours of my life back.

It might make a decent date film if you're trying to impress someone who's a bit shallow and slow.

This is a really cute little film that will leave you feeling great, as well as hungry! All of the food looks awesome, and I like the way that they talk about it with such passion. Perfect film for chilling at home with some Indian takeout.

Aasif Mundvi is of course awesome as the caustic sarcastic Senior Muslim Correspondent on the Daily Show, but he shows a different side to his acting as the determined but troubled Samir. Naseeruddin Shah is brilliant as the taxi driver/chef. I loved his references to this crazy life that he has lead, and the way he really demonstrates passion and skill at cooking. Madhur jaffrey was a nice surprise as well. I have only seen her on the cover of cookbooks and jars of sauce, I didn't realize she could act as well! The story is simple but well told. You really feel for Aasif, and this is what carries the film along. Definitely recommend buying it on DVD when it comes out Jan 24th.

Saw this movie floating around on netflix. I was really bored one night and decided to check out the movie. I was glad I did, its one of those movies that just leaves you in a better mood than when you started: a feel good movie! The acting is good with really likable characters especially the cab driver/cook whose character I just love. I never really was a fan of The Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi. Didn't like the humor or anything too much but he is great in this movie and can actually act. Now fair warning, I liked this movie a lot in part due to my ability to relate/understand the culture behind the story (I am an Indian college student in the USA) and also love the old school Hindi songs in it (hooked me into the movie). The movie is also typical in some of its approach and formula, it isn't anything new or groundbreaking. But nonetheless it is very enjoyable and isn't just restricted to brown people lol. This movie is easy to relate to if you are a first generation foreigner (of any country IMO). It just enhances the movie experience. I'll definitely will be showing this movie to my friends. The movie fits a nice category of movies that isn't very abundant: a great light drama, semi romantic, light comedy. Another movie I would include in that category would be Morning Glory with Rachel McAdams.

Bottomline: give this movie a chance and watch it, you won't be disappointed!

Extra awesomeness--- Dennis Duffy (30 Rock) is in it (for a bit)! Love me some 30 Rock

My wife and I sat down expecting to see a low budget flick. Turns out, the acting, plot, sets and script are engaging and warm. A real family film also touching on generational issues as well as the love of doing something one really loves and overcoming fear in just living one's life

The only negative (and a minor point) is that there were no subtitles, causing one to really concentrate on some actors as the some were, at times, hard to understand. However, this also made us concentrate even more on watching the film and may have even added to overall appreciation

Very enjoyable.A very touching and human movie.

I enjoy this movie immensely because it made me laugh, cry and appreciate the spices-favors of different types of food. The universal themes focus on this motion picture were palpable. I must admit, I felt going out to dinner to an Indian Joint after seeing this movie. I really wanted to have some of that golden spice. The character made this a great story because they were beautifully played because their vulnerabilities were easy to feel. You should watch this movie if you want to be moved. I recommend going to dinner after watching "Today Special", in order to enhance your viewing experience.

I also, like the the fact that this motion picture has openly accepted the main stream view of inter-racial relationships with Westerners. Yet another reason to go see it!!!

Yes this is a feel good movie and in some ways an adult coming of age movie but it's in no way stupid or trite.

The performances of all are impeccable, even the smallest of characters seem real and fully formed. The soundtrack is also fabulous.

Some of the plot I could see coming about a mile in advance but I really didn't care because I was enjoying it so much.

The Daily Show's Aasif Mandvi co-wrote and starred in this, this may put some more conservative viewers off but then they probably wouldn't watch the movie anyway because it's about Muslims in New York. I may be turning into Bill Maher.

I guess there's really no reason why I should try to persuade conservatives to watch it... except... it's a gem. Warning... may contain brown people.

It's sensitive, heartwarming, funny and uplifting without too many obvious clichés and as Aasif Mandvi's first movie, it's a triumph for him and a joy for us.

The character of the taxi driver will not soon be forgotten. Excellent, feel good film!

This is one of the most underrated movies that have been centred around Indians living in the west. I do not understand why this title has been placed in the Comedy Genre. This is really a spiritual insight into what cooking and food really is, and also what value it can provide in our life and relationships. There are several quotes (especially from Naseeruddin Shah) that may sound very cliche but are thought provoking and hard hitting. This is an absolute must-watch for anyone looking to give meaning to their life.

The only thing that I did not liked was that the entire movie is in English, which was complete unnecessary and unauthentic.

Over the years, I have noticed that most cooking movies are really great entertainment. "Babette's Feast", "Big Night" and "Bella Martha" are a few great cooking films I have seen and so I was looking forward to seeing "Today's Special". Fortunately, my expectations were met. While not quite in the same league as these three films, it was very close--and a film I can heartily recommend.

Aasif Mandva plays Samir--an Indian-American who is classically trained and has dreams of going to France to further his culinary education. Unfortunately, just before he leaves, his father has a heart attack and Samir is forced to stay and run his family's horrible Indian restaurant. I say horrible because the place is filthy, the chef is a filthy pig and the food is wretched. Truly Samir has his work cut out for him--particularly because he knows nothing about Indian cooking. By chance, he happens to meet a cabbie who claims he knows how to cook well and Samir hires him to work in the restaurant. What's next? See the film as there is so much more to the movie--such as Samir's very problematic relationship with his father, Samir's pathetic dating life and his father's plans to sell the restaurant! Why did I like this film? Well, it had a wonderful ensemble cast. So many of the supporting characters were very cute and likable. Additionally, Naseeruddin Shah did a lovely job as the cabbie cook--which was a very important foundation for the film. Well worth seeing, a bit funny and with a lot of heart.

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, another wonderful film about cooking is "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman". If you can think of any others let me know--I am always in the mood for a good food film.

ONE OF THE VERY UNDERRATED MOVIE / AND NOT FOR EVERYONE . Those who love food and the art of cooking just like music will love it. well written gem that will make you want to eat some great indian food--or any food! Sometimes you want a meal that tastes exactly like you expect it's going to taste. "Today's Special" is one of those meals.

East meets West + Culinary Delights + Humor + La Familia = what's not to like!!

The movie shows some real time experiences of Indian families settling in the West but with a fresh approach. Loved all cooking scenes. Loved Naseeruddin's acting as always.. would welcome more movies of this genre!! Kudos!!