Food movies ranked
by sharky_55 | created - 04 Feb 2017 | updated - 2 weeks ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Ratatouille (2007)
G | 111 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A rat who can cook makes an unusual alliance with a young kitchen worker at a famous Paris restaurant.
Directors: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava | Stars: Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm
Votes: 825,424 | Gross: $206.45M
Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. In this case, we're talking about a rat. A gentle, unpretentious exploration of the artist's imagination, independence, and supporting cast, as well as the ability for food to nourish and transport us.
2. Big Night (1996)
R | 109 min | Drama, Romance
New Jersey, 1950s. Two brothers run an Italian restaurant. Business is not going well as a rival Italian restaurant is out-competing them. In a final effort to save the restaurant, the brothers plan to put on an evening of incredible food.
Directors: Campbell Scott, Stanley Tucci | Stars: Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci, Marc Anthony, Larry Block
Votes: 22,833 | Gross: $11.88M
A tale of two brothers and their struggling Italian restaurant as they juggle cultural compromise and survival in face of the American dream. Their skill together in the kitchen is rivalled only by their ideological differences out of it.
3. Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
Not Rated | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A senior chef lives with his three grown daughters; the middle one finds her future plans affected by unexpected events and the life changes of the other household members.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Sihung Lung, Kuei-Mei Yang, Wang Yu-wen, Chien-Lien Wu
Votes: 23,205 | Gross: $7.29M
Observes how food is passed on from generation to generation as cultural capital, and the struggle of a father trying to reconcile with the passing of time. He mourns as fast food joints spring up overnight, and wields the dinner table as his last living connection to his daughters.
4. Tampopo (1985)
Not Rated | 114 min | Comedy
A truck driver stops at a small family-run noodle shop and decides to help its fledgling business. The story is intertwined with various vignettes about the relationship of love and food.
Director: Jûzô Itami | Stars: Ken Watanabe, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Koji Yakusho
Votes: 22,576 | Gross: $0.22M
Amidst the main 'noodle western' story-line of a widow striving to open her own ramen bar, vignettes curiously and humourously unveil the role of food in the everyday life.
5. Babette's Feast (1987)
G | 103 min | Drama
During the late 19th century, a strict religious community in a Danish village takes in a French refugee from the Franco-Prussian War as a servant to the late pastor's daughters.
Director: Gabriel Axel | Stars: Stéphane Audran, Bodil Kjer, Birgitte Federspiel, Jarl Kulle
Votes: 22,042 | Gross: $4.40M
Depicts the story of Babette, an immigrant refugee who repays the kindness of her hosts with a great French feast. The food has a magical quality, and soon old feuds are mended, love blossoms, and a village is healed.
6. Isle of Flowers (1989)
13 min | Documentary, Short
The ironic, heartbreaking and acid "saga" of a spoiled tomato: from the plantation of a "Nisei" (Brazilian with Japanese origins); to a supermarket; to a consumer's kitchen to become sauce ... See full summary »
Director: Jorge Furtado | Stars: Paulo José, Ciça Reckziegel, Douglas Trainini, Júlia Barth
Votes: 6,525
7. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
PG | 81 min | Documentary
A documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his renowned Tokyo restaurant, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.
Director: David Gelb | Stars: Jiro Ono, Yoshikazu Ono, Masuhiro Yamamoto, Daisuke Nakazama
Votes: 38,024 | Gross: $2.55M
Sushi consumes Jiro Ono's whole life. His two sons have also learned for years to become part of the business. Such dedicated artists are usually enigmas to the general public, but David Gelb provides simple truths and insights into the world of Michelin three-star sushi.
8. Sideways (2004)
R | 127 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two men reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment embark on a week-long road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh
Votes: 204,321 | Gross: $71.50M
About the savouring and appreciation of wine, life, and romance - and how all three have faded in the life of a tortured, middle-aged writer and wine snob. Payne captures the humour and desperation of Miles and his journey to redemption without the easy let-offs of typical Hollywood fare.
9. Waitress (2007)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Jenna is a pregnant, unhappily married waitress in the deep south. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness.
Director: Adrienne Shelly | Stars: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Jeremy Sisto, Cheryl Hines
Votes: 48,834 | Gross: $19.07M
Pies are not merely delicious in this quirky rom-com, they're also the avenue for a small-town waitress to vent and record her fears, anxieties, and daydreams. Her signature dish is packed with true love for friends and family, which wins out in the end.
10. Boiling Point (I) (2021)
R | 92 min | Drama, Thriller
Enter the relentless pressure of a restaurant kitchen as a head chef wrangles his team on the busiest day of the year.
Director: Philip Barantini | Stars: Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Alice Feetham, Ray Panthaki
Votes: 42,249
A frenetic, one-shot gaze into the workings of a restaurant straining under the weight of front and back of house conflicts, personal crises, and food service in the age of social media & clout chasing.
11. Julie & Julia (2009)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Julia Child's story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book.
Director: Nora Ephron | Stars: Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Chris Messina, Stanley Tucci
Votes: 128,895 | Gross: $94.13M
12. Chef (2014)
R | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A head chef quits his restaurant job and buys a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family.
Director: Jon Favreau | Stars: Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman
Votes: 231,809 | Gross: $31.42M
13. Feast (I) (2014)
G | 6 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
The love life of a man as told through the meals he gives his adopted dog, Winston.
Director: Patrick Osborne | Stars: Steve Apostolina, Kirk Baily, Ben Bledsoe, David Cowgill
Votes: 24,034
14. The Scent of Green Papaya (1993)
Not Rated | 104 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A Vietnamese servant girl, Mui, observes lives within two different Saigon families: the first, a woman textile seller with three boys and a frequently absent husband; the second, a handsome young pianist with his fiancée.
Director: Anh Hung Tran | Stars: Nu Yên-Khê Tran, Man San Lu, Thi Loc Truong, Anh Hoa Nguyen
Votes: 9,988 | Gross: $1.91M
15. Drifting Clouds (1996)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy, Drama
The recession hits a couple in Helsinki.
Director: Aki Kaurismäki | Stars: Kati Outinen, Kari Väänänen, Elina Salo, Sakari Kuosmanen
Votes: 9,065
16. Dinner Rush (2000)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
At a popular NYC Italian restaurant on a dramatic, busy evening, there are 2 gangsters, cop detective, food-critic, ex bookmaker owner, his chef son, indebted gambler sous-chef etc.
Director: Bob Giraldi | Stars: Danny Aiello, Edoardo Ballerini, John Rothman, Frank Bongiorno
Votes: 6,028 | Gross: $0.11M
17. Fresh Guacamole (2012)
Unrated | 2 min | Animation, Short
Transforming familiar objects into fresh guacamole.
Director: PES
Votes: 4,252
18. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
PG | 90 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A local scientist is often regarded as a failure until he invents a machine that can make food fall from the sky. But little does he know that things are about to take a turn for the worst.
Directors: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller | Stars: Anna Faris, Bill Hader, Bruce Campbell, James Caan
Votes: 258,015 | Gross: $124.87M
19. Tortilla Soup (2001)
PG-13 | 102 min | Comedy, Romance, Drama
A Mexican-American master chef and father to three daughters has lost his taste for food, but not for life.
Director: Maria Ripoll | Stars: Hector Elizondo, Jacqueline Obradors, Tamara Mello, Jude Herrera
Votes: 5,281 | Gross: $4.45M
20. The God of Cookery (1996)
95 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
The most renowned and feared chef in the world loses his title of God of Cookery because of his pompous attitude. Humbled, he sets out to reclaim his title.
Directors: Stephen Chow, Lik-Chi Lee | Stars: Stephen Chow, Karen Mok, Vincent Kok, Man-Tat Ng
Votes: 9,845
21. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
G | 100 min | Family, Fantasy, Musical
A poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.
Director: Mel Stuart | Stars: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear
Votes: 227,428 | Gross: $4.00M
An inventor loves the secrets of his food so much that he locks them up in a factory, but realises that someday this joy must be passed on. To choose his inheritor, he designs a strange adventure to test five members of the confectionery generation.
22. Delicatessen (1991)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Crime
Post-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who occasionally prepares a delicacy for his odd tenants.
Directors: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Marie-Laure Dougnac, Dominique Pinon, Pascal Benezech, Jean-Claude Dreyfus
Votes: 90,063 | Gross: $1.79M
23. The Ramen Girl (2008)
PG-13 | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An American woman is stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend. Searching for direction in life, she trains to be a râmen chef under a tyrannical Japanese master.
Director: Robert Allan Ackerman | Stars: Brittany Murphy, Toshiyuki Nishida, Tammy Blanchard, Soji Arai
Votes: 11,100
24. Spanglish (2004)
PG-13 | 131 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A woman and her daughter emigrate from Mexico for a better life in America, where they start working for a family whose patriarch is a newly celebrated chef with an insecure wife.
Director: James L. Brooks | Stars: Adam Sandler, Téa Leoni, Paz Vega, Cloris Leachman
Votes: 88,554 | Gross: $42.73M
25. Today's Special (2009)
R | 99 min | Comedy
In this super-feel-good foodie comedy, young Manhattan chef Samir rediscovers his heritage and his passion for life through the enchanting art of cooking Indian food.
Director: David Kaplan | Stars: Dean Winters, Aarti Mann, Kevin Corrigan, Jess Weixler
Votes: 6,733 | Gross: $0.40M
26. East Side Sushi (2014)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
An immigrant single mother disenfranchised by her regular life decides to take a chance working at a Japanese restaurant and realises her dreams to become a sushi chef to provide a better future to her family.
Director: Anthony Lucero | Stars: Diana Elizabeth Torres, Yutaka Takeuchi, Rodrigo Duarte Clark, Kaya Jade Aguirre
Votes: 4,585 | Gross: $3.50M
27. Eating Raoul (1982)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Crime
A relatively boring Los Angeles couple discovers a bizarre, if not murderous, way to get funding for opening a restaurant.
Director: Paul Bartel | Stars: Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Robert Beltran, Susan Saiger
Votes: 9,179
28. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
NC-17 | 124 min | Crime, Drama
At Le Hollandais gourmet restaurant, every night is filled with opulence, decadence and gluttony. But when the cook, a thief, his wife and her lover all come together, they unleash a shocking torrent of sex, food, murder and revenge.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Richard Bohringer, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Alan Howard
Votes: 41,755 | Gross: $7.72M
29. The Menu (2022)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
A young couple travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.
Director: Mark Mylod | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau
Votes: 392,624 | Gross: $38.50M
30. The Taste of Things (2023)
PG-13 | 135 min | Drama, History, Romance
The story of Eugenie, an esteemed cook, and Dodin - the fine gourmet chef she has been working for over the last 20 years.
Director: Anh Hung Tran | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel, Emmanuel Salinger, Patrick d'Assumçao
Votes: 7,781
31. Western Spaghetti (2008)
2 min | Animation, Short
Everyday objects become delicious ingredients as we learn how to cook spaghetti through stop-motion photography.
Director: PES
Votes: 1,216
32. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
PG | 115 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
Charlie, a young boy from an impoverished family, and four other kids win a tour of an amazing chocolate factory run by an imaginative chocolatier, Willy Wonka, and his staff of Oompa-Loompas.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter
Votes: 529,427 | Gross: $206.46M
33. Kings of Pastry (2009)
Not Rated | 87 min | Documentary, Drama, Family
The collar awarded to the winners of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman in France) is more than the ultimate recognition for every pastry chef - it is a dream and an obsession. ... See full summary »
Directors: Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker | Stars: Jacquy Pfeiffer, Regis Lazard, Philippe Rigollot, Rachel Beaudry
Votes: 1,383 | Gross: $0.34M
34. The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
PG | 122 min | Comedy, Drama
The Kadam family leaves India for France where they open a restaurant directly across the road from Madame Mallory's Michelin-starred eatery.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon
Votes: 87,630 | Gross: $54.24M
35. The Trip (I) (2010)
Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
Steve Coogan has been asked by The Observer to tour the country's finest restaurants, but after his girlfriend backs out on him he must take his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon.
Director: Michael Winterbottom | Stars: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Rebecca Johnson, Elodie Harrod
Votes: 23,437 | Gross: $2.01M
36. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)
PG | 95 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Flint Lockwood now works at The Live Corp Company for his idol Chester V. But he's forced to leave his post when he learns that his most infamous machine is still operational, and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids.
Directors: Cody Cameron, Kris Pearn | Stars: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Will Forte, Neil Patrick Harris
Votes: 114,763 | Gross: $119.79M
37. Soul Food (1997)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
One person can keep a family together and, when that one person is gone, a family can be torn apart.
Director: George Tillman Jr. | Stars: Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach
Votes: 9,014 | Gross: $43.49M
38. Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama
Evelyn, an ordinary housewife, visits a nursing home and befriends the old lady Ninny. Together, they bond over stories from the past about two intrepid women of Whistle Stop Cafe.
Director: Jon Avnet | Stars: Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker
Votes: 83,681 | Gross: $82.42M
39. Chocolat (2000)
PG-13 | 121 min | Drama, Romance
A French woman and her young daughter open up a chocolate shop in a small remote village that shakes up the rigid morality of the community.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina
Votes: 201,998 | Gross: $71.51M
40. Like Water for Chocolate (1992)
R | 105 min | Drama, Romance
When tradition prevents her from marrying the man she loves, a young woman discovers she has a unique talent for cooking.
Director: Alfonso Arau | Stars: Marco Leonardi, Lumi Cavazos, Regina Torné, Mario Iván Martínez
Votes: 18,844 | Gross: $21.67M
41. No Reservations (2007)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The life of a top chef changes when she becomes the guardian of her young niece.
Director: Scott Hicks | Stars: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin, Patricia Clarkson
Votes: 78,819 | Gross: $43.11M
42. Hunger (II) (2023)
TV-MA | 146 min | Drama, Thriller
A woman running her family's noodle restaurant receives an invitation to join the fine-dining industry under the tutelage of an infamous chef.
Director: Sitisiri Mongkolsiri | Stars: Nopachai Chaiyanam, Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, Emilio Ferreira, Alex Gravenstein
Votes: 16,615
43. Burnt (I) (2015)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Drama
Adam Jones is a chef who destroyed his career with drugs and diva behavior. He cleans up and returns to London, determined to redeem himself by spearheading a top restaurant that can gain three Michelin stars.
Director: John Wells | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Daniel Brühl, Riccardo Scamarcio
Votes: 132,904 | Gross: $13.65M
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