love, work, childcare

to escape the stew of immutable struggles, romantic comedies are the perfect genre for every bleeding, wounded affections. i limit myself when it comes to films per se. i don't gaze at that actress, nor that actor, nor that actress. just no. they would still be rich and famous and i would still indulge in a flurry of moving and handling activities to pay the bills. catherine zeta jones fit into that category of actresses i don't bother to watch at all in any medium. at this point, i can't recall the reasons behind my rebuff. although there's no total disdain towards mrs. douglas. but then comes a day when there's no bad tv around and the moment arrives to utilize the pricey movie channels for its marvelous purpose.

no reservations is not the usual. gorgeous girl meets dishy, tantalizing boy storyline. the selling point might be a blooming romance between an uptight head chef and a charming sous chef. but the movie's raw energy comes from the formidable hassles of maintaining a precise equipoise between work and parenthood. kate (zeta-jones), the chef who has held off marriage in favor of a career, unexpectedly becomes a mother to her niece, zoe (abigail breslin) when her single parent sister died in a car accident. processing a huge loss is hard enough. getting zoe to eat (and she's a chef) is another matter altogether. finding the right sitter has also provided a challenge. then comes nick (aaron eckhart), the replacement hired by the restaurant's owner while kate was away. nick, who's easygoing personality is a complete opposite of kate's, blares opera while directing the kitchen and learned the intricacies of cooking during his years backpacking in italy. zoe who has been invited to the restaurant's kitchen easily gravitates towards nick's easy exuberance. nick's inherent instincts in finding a balance between life and work also rubs off on kate. a few coquettish moments here and there between the leads created a spark plug for the dreamy sequences. albeit for a work related mandatory conflict, it's heartwarming to see the convolutions finding the right mixtures in the end.