Comingsoon.net is preparing a menu full of the most memorable meals in film. Check out our selections in the gallery below!
Throughout film history, audiences have been treated to dazzling landscapes, intricate set designs, fantastic visual effects, and stellar performances from some of the medium’s greatest actors. One thing that simply can’t be beat, though, is a film’s ability to show some of the most mouthwatering smorgasbords imaginable. Not dissimilar from a commercial for a fast food place, movies have no problem exaggerating the look of a meal spread to make things seem better than any real-life restaurant’s offerings.
Across fiction and nonfiction, animation and live-action, film has never failed to satiate the hungry through food-focused movies. (But hey, if you’re truly hungry, maybe get some popcorn or something instead of relying on a film for your meals.) While there are certainly plenty of examples, these are the very best movie meals out there.
The 10 Best Meals In Movies
-
Big Night (1996)
A big hit at Sundance back in the mid-90s, Big Night sees a couple of immigrant restauranteurs banking on a celebrity night at their eatery to completely change their lives for good. Stanley Tucci stars and directs, resulting in some really excellent shots of meals.
-
Chef (2014)
The first movie Jon Favreau made after departing the Iron Man series, Chef follows a man who leaves his safe career as a chef to open up a small, independent food truck. Mirroring the director’s own career, the film subs Favreau’s satiating filmography for a superb-looking menu.
-
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Based on the incredibly successful children’s book of the same name, Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs managed to show off some seriously gargantuan plates while also introducing their signature brand of comedy to the world. They’ve gone on to great heights since then, but it’s hard to top the image of a gigantic stack of pancakes destroying a school.
-
Delicatessen (1991)
A post-apocalyptic film of a completely different breed, Delicatessen takes place in a world where meat is in high demand and almost impossible to find. The exception here compared to the other films in this collection is that the food in Delicatessen isn’t apetizing—it’s humans.
-
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
A gripping documentary about Japan’s most famous sushi chef, Jiro Dreams of Sushi profiles Jiro Ono and his ten-seat restaurant. Incredibly small (but extremely expensive), Jiro’s restaurant serves patrons twenty courses—all of which look absolutely divine.
-
Julie & Julia (2009)
The inimitable Nora Ephron’s final film, Julie & Julia, follows the rise of famous cook Julia Child and the parallel story of up-and-coming food blogger Julie Powell as the two work through the same recipes decades apart. Child is one of the most notable chefs in history, so it’s no surprise the food on display here is absolutely divine.
-
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
-
Ratatouille (2007)
Disney/Pixar seems to lean pretty heavily into sequels as of late, but there actually was a time where Toy Story 2 was the only sequel they had to offer. Ratatouille arrived at the perfect time in the mid-2000s and remains one of their very best films to date, showing off delicious-looking Italian cuisine (regardless of the fact that it’s all animated and made by a talking rat).
-
Sideways (2004)
Alexander Payne never misses, and Sideways is no exception. A film about two friends experiencing a midlife crisis disguised as a trip through wine country, the movie has all kinds of good-looking food and expensive potables on full display.
-
Tampopo (1985)
One would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t like Ramen noodles. One would struggle even harder to find someone who didn’t want to make Ramen noodles while watching Tampopo, which features enough Ramen to feed the masses.
