Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

A Brilliant Conflict

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This is the story of a narcissist heteronormative man who believes he holds the truth about the history of the human kind. From avoiding the realities of slavery in american history (supposedly, food brought black slaves and slave owners together in peace), to having the egocentrism to believe he can impose meat eating onto vegetarian AND have change their life, to perpetuating patriarchal male ideals as well as gender inequalities, to cultural appropriation, to assuming that meat is the main food in all culture, Pollan really succeeds in showing how narrow-minded and ignorant white privileged folks can be.

Dividing the show into four episodes each named after one of the fundamental elements is very misleading. You would not only have a hard time associating the name of each episode to the content, but also could not name the episode yourself if you had the option. Each episode is a mixture of mostly unrelated cooking tips, biology facts, historical events, and other topics. For instance the episode that is named earth is almost entirely about cheese making in a particular farm in the united states and becomes very boring after a few minutes. The presenter is of the impression that United States is the center of the world and California is the center of United States. He never leaves his front porch in the entire series, except the time he goes to his back yard to make a barbeque. The scenes of him talking are mixed with the footage a crew has taken from different parts of the world.There are a few good scenes in the series but the lack of any coherence makes if very difficult to watch. I believe with a little more research and planing and by using someone with a broader view as the presenter, this could have been a much better show.

The initial approaching is quite exciting, an anthropologist journey into the origins of the cuisine culture itself,... I like the idea.Unfortunately you will find yourself socked by the prejudice male sexist speech of the author. All served with abundant ethnocentrism, and 'pearls' like "how barbecue's build our manhood" and worse. Very offensive for women, and an insult to the intelligence and critical thinking in general.

I always like the way Michael Pollan divides him musings into food categories that connect to cultural beliefs and historical discoveries, as he did, for instance in Botany of Desire. He did this in Cooked by devoting each episode to one of the ancient elements of fire, water, air, and earth. I won't say what foods and cultures they correspond to; discover the connections yourself. Allow Pollan to take you to unexpected places of cooking excellence and expertise. I grew up in a large, somewhat stressed family that relied on prepared convenience food much of the time. I am talking Tater Tots, Hamburger Helper, fish sticks, pot pies, and canned chili, so I don't have great role models for cooking food that is fresh and natural, eco-friendly, and nutritious. Nevertheless, I aspire to do so.If you are like me, you can't always cook an evening meal, but this series inspires me to try to do so a little more often.