Directed by Scott Hicks, \"No Reservations\" is a flavourless Hollywood remake of \"Mostly Martha\", a vastly superior German romcom that starred Martina Gedeck (\"The Lives of Others\"). Catherine Zeta-Jones plays New York chef Kate Armstrong, who's great at her job but also something of a liability thanks to her fiery temper. Her boss, Paula (Patricia Clarkson) sends her to a therapist (Bob Balaban) but therapy doesn't really seem to do the trick. Then two things happen to upset the balance in Kate's life: first, her sister dies in a car accident and she inherits her 9-year-old niece, Zoe (Abigail Breslin); and second, Paula hires high-spirited (you can tell he's high-spirited because he likes to listen to opera while he works) sous-chef Nick (Aaron Eckhart) to take up the slack in the kitchen while Kate grieves and looks after Zoe. However, Kate hates the idea of losing control at work, so she's soon back in the kitchen, clashing with Nick while Zoe mopes around in the background.The biggest problem with \"No Reservations\" is that there's no chemistry between Zeta-Jones and Eckhart, which makes it hard to care all that much about whether or not they get together. They're not helped by a bland script that doesn't give either of them much to work with beyond making them jump through the usual romcom hoops and then ladling on the sentimentality at the end. The supporting characters don't get much of a look-in either - is the lovely Patricia Clarkson really that desperate for work? That said, Abigail (\"Little Miss Sunshine\") Breslin is the best thing in the film and her portrayal of a young girl gradually negotiating the grieving process is the only emotional element that actually works.In short, \"No Reservations\" is slick, glossy and largely unsatisfying. Rent the original instead.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>","fnc":"googleTrackerHelper.doTrackPage( '\/'No-Reservations-film_options~20669'\/Reviews\/ViewAll\/1' );"}