RECIPE FOR DISASTER

US, 2002, 87 minutes, Colour.
John Larroquette, Leslie Ann Warren, Melissa Peterman, Margot Harshman, Devon Werkheiser, Andrew James Allen, Bill Dawes, Michelle Brookhurst.
Directed by Harvey Frost.

Recipe for Disaster is a film that appears on family channels. It is designed for a family audience, for parents and their exasperations, for younger children and their squabbling but their reconciling and their achievement – all with a dash of childish vindictiveness.

John Larroquette and Leslie Ann Warren are the parents, who have spent some months setting up a restaurant, have come to the opening night, coping with squabbling children, but getting to the restaurant and are enjoying the preparations. However, there is a jealous brother and sister with a restaurant next door who are intent on sabotage, even tearing up the permit and forcing the couple to go to an office to sign more papers – with all kinds of disasters on the way home, flat tire, police ticket… Only arriving home when the last customers are about to leave.

Meanwhile, the children are left in charge and definitely rise to the occasion, Rebecca the oldest, taking the bookings, acting as a waitress and coping with quite a crowd of diners. Sam the next child, does all the cooking. Max the youngest, after overcoming some apprehensions, welcomes the diners to the restaurant.

Since the title is Recipe for Disaster, there will be all kinds of difficulties, the nasty brother and sister making the chef drunk, sending a good-looking Italian to put a terrible picture on the wall and so entice the waitress away with him, and of course, the nasty behaviour of the neighbours – with various retaliations, lights going on and off, follows, sabotage on the dishwasher, extra chili in the menu, sending child welfare to the restaurant as well as a health inspector. By the end, the brother and sister end up in all kinds of mess.

There is also the journalist who loves giving only one star to restaurants who comes in various disguises, for no apparent reason, but is ultimately pleased and gives the restaurant three stars.

There is also a touch of romance as the daughter wanted to go to a party but finds her rival coming to the restaurant, allergic to strawberries and therefore putting strawberry flavouring into her meal, and the handsome student who also comes, is impressed and makes a booking for lunch at school on Monday.

An easy watch, family issues, enterprise in the restaurant, coping with difficulties, and the slapstick of the retaliation devices.