Eat Your Heart Out (1997) from Tuna

Eat Your Heart Out (1997) stars Christian Oliver, Pamela Segall, and John Craig as three long-time friends who share a loft in LA. Oliver is a talented chef who gives classes at a food supply store, Segall is a wannabe artist, and Craig is a totally uncouth Neanderthal, who works as a butcher, and everyone likes anyway. Segall is clearly wanting a relationship with Oliver, but Oliver goes through one woman after another looking for Miss right. Up to this point, the film had the feel of one of those pilots where they introduce a bunch of quirky characters that you fall in love with, and just know the series will be great.

NUDITY REPORT

Segall shows one breast near the beginning of the film when Craig peeks at her dressing.

DVD info from Amazon.

  • Full-screen format

  • no meaningful features

Unfortunately, as the story progresses, events take over, and what could have become a great character-driven comedy turns into a set of romantic cliches. Oliver lands a TV cooking show, where he talks to female viewers as he cooks, and lets fame and fortune go to his head. The film had me hooked at the 10 minute mark, then seriously lost its way, degenerating into a predictable romantic comedy. What a waste of a great start, and a wonderful supporting cast which included Laura San Giacomo and Linda Hunt.

The Critics Vote

  • no English-language reviews on file

The People Vote ...

 

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C-.

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