Normal Guy 50-Words-Or-Less Plot: A work-obsessed chef must contend with a staff addition to her kitchen. She also must deal with the recent death of her sister who made her guardian and sole caregiver for her young and orphaned niece.

This is a remake of a French film titled, “Mostly Martha” and my guess it’s probably not as good. But that’s only a guess.

Kate Armstrong (CATHERINE ZETA-JONES) is a workaholic chef for a chic Manhattan restaurant. She runs a tight kitchen and is a bit of a prima dona. Her boss and owner of the restaurant, Paula (PATRICIA CLARKSON), sends her to a therapist (BOB BALABAN) to see if she can work through things. Her kitchen workers Bernadette (LILY RABE) and Leah (JENNY WADE) don’t express any hope for her because food and cooking are what keep Kate afloat.

Kate’s world is turned inside out when she receives the horrible news her sister was killed in an accident. Kate is left as the sole caregiver for her young niece, Zoe (ABIGAIL BRESLIN), now an orphan. She isn’t prepared to be a mom and she seeks help from her divorced neighbor, Sean (BRIAN F. O'BYRNE). This doesn’t help Kate very much because things get worse when she returns from leave to discover Paula hired sous chef, Nick (AARON ECKHART). Nick is mellow and charming and he wins over the kitchen staff and Kate grows suspicious of his intentions (i.e. Nick is after Kate’s job). So Kate must deal with the feelings that move to friendship and romance. She must also care for her grieving, orphaned niece.

This movie is what you call a romantic dramedy. It was more “dra”  than “medy” and I didn’t find the romance very convincing. Also the grief through which Zoe was going was not evenly expressed. I am not sure if it was and editing problem, script problem or if the grief was not handled well in the screenplay. At any rate, it was hard to enter into see Zoe’s suffering. She seemed almost bi-polar.

The film is very predictable and you will get the basic idea in the first 20 to 25 minutes. There were very, very few humorous moments. Food and cooking are metaphors for life and living which seems to play well but Zeta-Jones and Eckhart who are decent in their roles, weren’t convincing in their relationship. They didn’t blend consistently. Breslin gets the difficult and complex role but does just okay because of the material, I think. I wanted more from her because she can deliver; again, not consistent.

Overall, I didn’t like the film. I didn’t hate it I just didn’t like it. I expected more and I was not happy with its uneven presentation. Reservations not needed .