Having become the most unlikely blockbuster director on the block, Iron Man's Jon Favreau goes back to his swinging indie roots – albeit with a VIP guest list. Working from his own script, he plays frustrated chef Carl Casper, forced by his restaurateur boss (Dustin Hoffman) to repeat the same old dishes until a snippy review provokes a meltdown that goes viral. Out of a job, and out of sorts with his habitually disappointed son (Emjay Anthony), Carl decides to reinvent himself with the aid of a Twitter account and a taco food truck. For all its reheated film-food cliches (cooking as a metaphor for bonding – sexual, fraternal, familial) and refried road-movie beans, Chef slips a few tasty side dishes around its meat-and-potatoes main course. John Leguizamo's sous-chef sauciness lends spice to Favreau's honest Joe schtick, while Robert Downey Jr makes a meal of an amuse-bouche cameo as Carl's ex-wife's ex-husband. Meanwhile, Scarlett Johansson and Sofia Vergara are on hand to prove that, in Hollywood, sexy heft remains an essentially male prerogative. At times it resembles a glorified advert for Twitter, but compared to Google-backed abomination The Internship with which Favreau's former partner-in-crime Vince Vaughn sold what's left of his soul, such product placement appears innocuous indeed.