Pig (2021) vs. The Menu (2022) Film Review
There is a noticeable trend in this newsletter. Its author finds something he dislikes on the surface and uses this space as a space to parse out why he feels those emotions (I think). While the exercise is cathartic it does make the author me feel like I’m looking for things to dislike instead of highlight. That is the purpose of doing a duel review. To highlight and critique. Thanks for sticking around.
With the announcement of NOMA closing1 I’ll be comparing and contrasting two movies that walk though the glen of Fine Dining. Pig (2021) and The Menu (2022) have quite a lot in common on the surface. Like a path in the wood, the movies diverge each taking their own course through the forest of the Restaurant Industry.2
We are greeted to the movie Pig with a shot of Robin “Rob” Feld (Nicolas Cage) tasting a handful of dirt somewhere in the wilds of Oregon. An act reminiscent of the story we hear about Burgundian Cescertian monks putting the soil in their mouths to taste the terroir. Behind him is his truffle pig. A meditative scene. Watching the duo root for mycelium readies the viewer to appreciate the visual composition and nonverbal
communication contained within Pig (2021). That night Robin’s pet is stolen from his hut and thus the quest to restore the companion to Robin’s warm embrace. Upon arrival, Amir (Alex Wolf), Robin’s truffle buyer and distributor, is roped into taking the hermited Robin on the hunt. Through twists and turns we are treated to a fanciful portrayal of restaurant suppliers. It’s a character study and mystery/quest rolled together.
The embellishments of Pig (2021) can be forgiven for the sake of character growth. Is there a cutthroat, violent truffle trade in the City of Portland? No. Amir’s father, Darius (Adam Arkin) is the top truffle purveyor in town, while Amir is the upstart competition. It’s easy to see the father/son dynamic at play. We find out (spoiler) that Darius was the one that had Robin’s co-forager pignapped. So an overbearing father has a big reveal that he messed up and the two reconcile over a meal cooked by Robin, the famous chef that left culinary fame to a run a truffle hut in the woods. There’s probably a more nuanced way to highlight this relationship, to show how the characters involved resolve the problem, but this way works and is easily read by the viewer.3
We can also forgive the embellishment of an underground cavern under Pioneer Square in Portland’s downtown used for local hotel employees to run a fight club. The square is actually at ground level. Pioneer Square used to be a hotel, The Oregon Hotel . There is a lose network of tunnels that connect basements of buildings together, but that’s all.
On a side note, I was very happy to see the producers used Huber’s Cafe as the labyrinth entry point. The restaurant is a hidden gem who’s menu could use a revamp.4
Where was I? Oh yeah, Robin descends into the labyrinth (read abyss) to get punched for fifteen seconds and to ascend as a more humble character is an almost literal interpretation of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. As with the previous example, this could have been made a little less obvious and but it makes the action clear. It doesn’t feel like writer/director Michael Sarnoski talking down to the audience.5
I’ll give you a quick rundown of The Menu (2022) and get into my criticism.
Nameless and placeless6, The Menu (2022) is set on an island in, what I’m guessing, is supposed to be New England (really it’s supposed to be NOMA.) A group of dinners amass on a dock. Each group represents an annoying type of dinner. There are the Critics, Foodies, Finance Bros, and TV Cooking Stars.7 Once on the island the film makes quick work of showing you the creepy cult that populates the staff of Hawthorn (that’s the name of the restaurant, Hawthorn.) Things seem to keep happening and I did my best to pay attention. As the meal progresses more horrible things happen to the diners and staff at the sadistic hands of Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). *Sigh*
I suspect that the writers ate at NOMA and came up with a horror slasher film because they either had a bad experience at NOMA or were in a creative slump. 'Kill them all and burn the place down,' *long exhale.*
I don't have much patience for slasher-satire in to begin with. It’s a genre that tries to be poignant and campy at the same time. Violence as a metaphor can work, but make it should actually work. (Spoiler ahead) The Sous Chef, Jeremy (Adam Aalderks) greats the guests and Chef Slowik asks if Jeremy,8 would like to have his life, the life of Chef Slowik. Jeremy responds in the negative and shoots himself. It's shocking, sure, but the emotional impact is minimal. The viewer meets Jeremy once when The Foodie (Nicholas Hoult) asks him an annoying question about the preparation of some dish. When Jeremy shoots himself the only thing one feels is a jolt from the gunshot. If the character was minimally developed9 we could understand the motivation at least.10 Since The Menu is a slasher film and there doesn't need to be any development. The driver of this story is trying to figure out if the main character will survive. It gets a pass on technicality.
Ralph Fiennes is always a joy to watch, though couldn’t do enough to save The Menu. A feeling in direct contrast with Pig, a movie that reminds us that Nicholas Cage is a decent actor and that Portland, Oregon has tangible dining history. When you watch Pig, you’re brought into its world.11 The main characters are well developed. We feel heartbreak when Robin's (Cage) pig is stolen and root for its retrieval. The reconciliation between the Amir and his father is touching. On the other side there are too many characters in The Menu for any one of them to be developed, but we know they're going to die anyway so what's the point. 12
I hope this was as fun to read as it was to write. I’ll be writing whatever pops into my head and I hope that inspiration is more frequent. Thanks again.
NOMA is closing in 2024, not next month or in a week. The restaurant has been open for ten years and I’m sure the concept has run its course. I don’t understand what the hubbub is all about, there are at least a dozen side projects and iterations of NOMA out in the world. My colleague Karl Brink said it best, to paraphrase, they’ve already known the concept is over and are milking the publicity for a year before they close.
I don’t really think that woods motif really worked but let’s go with it. I’m rusty. Thank you for your patience.
Viewers aren’t readers here. ‘Read’ in the same senese one would ‘read a situation’ or ‘read body language.’ I’m invoking poetic licence.
Look, I’m completely against gentrification but no one really wants swanson turkey dinners anymore. The only thing going for it is the Spanish Coffee.
The same cannot be said for The Menu (2022)
It’s on Hawthorn Island and the name of the restaurant is also Hawthorn.
I’ll name the characters and actors as they crop up in the review here. When/if you watch the movie you’ll know that I’m treating the characters with about as much respect as the script.
Portrayed as a grunt and not the respected position it would hold in a brigade.
Other than a short, “he worked very hard to get to get where he is today” exposition .
To be honest, I’m terrible at storytelling and that’s, partially, why I haven’t published a newsletter for a while. Ideas weren’t coming or they were but I was hitting walls. Like I hit up a bunch of my friends to get quotes for an article about keeping wine weird. The more I analyzed the thought I came to varying and wildly different conclusions.
‘Suspension of disbelief’ is the phrase. It simply means that you don’t think about the outside world or the conditions of the movie.
Every Adam McKay project after The Other Guys (2010) has been a wash for me and The Menu (2022) continues this decades long tradition. Yes, it was directed by Mark Mylod and written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, but it contained the same hamfisted preach and blunt observation that are the hallmarks of a McKay flick. You always leave feeling talked down to and a little insulted.