Stephen Graham

(On Cable TV, April 2022) Watching Boiling Point so soon after the very similar Canadian effort Nose to Tail is a powerful reminder about the importance of execution in giving life to a premise. Both films are time-compressed narratives about embattled (white male) chefs trying to juggle domestic problems, substance abuse, a failing restaurant, unruly clients, financiers and food critics. They both clearly draw their inspiration from the pressure-cooker environment of a restaurant kitchen being slammed with customers, and derive traits from a stereotype of difficult (culinary) men that are somehow revered rather than shunned. One takes place in Toronto, while the other takes place in London, but you could probably swap entire characters, plotlines and incidents from one film to the other without changing much to the result. But here is the thing: while Nose to Tail was fine without being delicious, Boiling Point feels like a far more urgent and compelling proposition due to one striking conceptual decision: capture the entire film in one shot. And by that, I mean the old-school one-shot ethos: No CGI tricks, no elegant pans upwards while hours pass, no sweeping across columns or backs to hide the cuts: Writer-director Philip Barantini goes for 92 minutes of real-time intensity as lead Stephen Graham roams around the restaurant trying to keep his business venture together, schmooze investors and reviewers, deal with personal problems and harangue staff in doing better. There’s a pent-up intensity to the way the camera is choreographed, along with the multiple subplots, large cast, small space and the feeling that everything is coming apart. It’s invigorating even when it covers familiar grounds. A few great supporting performances do help a lot – specifically Vinette Robinson as a sous-chef who gets a terrific scorched-earth speech late in the film and precipitates the ending with a much-delayed decision. Now, I won’t call Boiling Point a perfect or even a great movie – despite the dizzying dance between camera and actors, there are a few lulls along the way, and the ending falls flat, as it doesn’t seem to whip itself up to a satisfying climax. I expected more from the final five minutes than how the film slows itself down to a coma right at the moment where everything should be exploding, and the glum final moments seem to take a very easy way out that doesn’t actually resolve any of the film’s ongoing conflicts. While the one-shot shooting has its advantages in building energy, it’s not so good in releasing it – there’s a coda missing, a sense of bringing everything back together that’s stronger than the bus-hits-the-protagonist kind of ending it settles for. Still, it’s quite a ride: While one-shot movies aren’t exactly rare any more with digital cameras and the example set by many predecessors, Boiling Point manages to use the format to distinguish itself in a restaurateur subgenre that’s otherwise getting crowded and stale. I’m going to remember it much longer than Nose to Tail, for instance, and that’s despite being a cheerleader for Canadian content.