garbanzosauce

I saw this movie without knowing who Nigel Slater is. The trailer made it out to be a humorous coming-of-age story about a boy with a passion for cooking.

The young Nigel never gives Mrs. Potter a chance - because she works as a house cleaner, is a bit vulgar and lives in public housing, he looks down on her and puts her down in front of his father whenever he can. He wins sympathy points for the emotionally abusive father and the dying mother, but ultimately he himself is not a likable character. And that is the main drawback of the movie. It seems to have been created mainly to vilify the stepmother that Nigel never liked.

Otherwise there is nothing wrong with it. In fact I think Helena Bonham-Carter delivers a great performance as Mrs. Potter.