Bitter Feast Review: Saw Combined with… The Food Network?
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Bitter Feast is another unique and original indie spin on the torture subgenre. This time, the motive is an ‘artists’ crushed culinary dreams and the challenges are diabolically delicious.
Written by James “Crypticpsych” Lasome
January 5, 2012
Release: January 4, 2011 (DVD)
Written and Directed by: Joe Maggio
Starring:
James LeGros as Peter Grey
Joshua Leonard as JT Franks
Amy Seimetz as Katherine Franks
Larry Fessenden as William Coley
Mario Batali as Gordon
Celebrity chef Peter Grey (James LeGros from Phantasm II) has everything an up and comer in the food industry could want including his own NYC restaurant and a new cooking show! However, everything isn’t all chardonnay and filet mignon for him as he’s developed a tendency to clash with his comic relief cohost, Peg (Megan Hilty), that threatens to destroy the show he only just started. One day, after a particularly trying episode, he returns to the restaurant to find his business partner, Gordon (real-life chef icon Mario Batali), who informs him that he’s being forced out of the restaurant partially because of his abrasiveness on-air but mostly because of a bad online restaurant review from notoriously negative and arrogant food blogger, JT Franks (Joshua Leonard). Grey, hardened by trauma earlier in his life, begins work on a sinister plan to exact his vengeance on Franks for destroying everything he’s worked for. Kidnapping and imprisoning him at a remote house in the country, Grey intends to confront Franks with his critical sins and culinary deficiencies through a series of bizarre challenges that could drive both men over the edge.
Bitter Feast is a more than admirable indie attempt at
reexamining the “game-slasher”/ “torture” subgenre made popular by the Saw
and Hostel
franchises. While it shares undeniable influences
with films of that ilk, it also sets itself apart from them in
important ways. For instance, this film, while intense, 
brutal, and
violent, is not ultra gory or fetishizing its blood and effects. Sure,
characters die or get injured, but the challenges are based in
simplicity and don’t involve the more elaborate traps or set-pieces
such as those more appropriate in its forbearers. In addition, the
challenges in this movie have a light edge of dark comedy in them that
would not make sense in those other movies. While there’s plenty of
danger and a feeling of dread in all of the “test” scenes, it’s hard
not to find it a little amusing when Franks is asked to do something as
mundane as perfectly cooking a steak to medium-rare with the threat of
dreadful consequences hanging over his head.
The performances of James LeGros and Joshua Leonard are crucial to Bitter
Feast’s overall success. LeGros is fantastic as Peter Grey,
portraying the character as intense and obsessed with perfection to the
point of slipping into an almost psychotic coldness from time to time.
He’s also able to present his challenges in such a devilishly
patronizing manner to Franks that he quickly becomes a character as
brilliantly smug as his target. Similarly, Leonard is also 
great as his
version of JT Franks comes across before his kidnapping as consumed by
the online persona he’s created in his unnecessarily nasty reviews, yet
still with some small tiny sliver of a soul left in his heart. As the
movie continues, it’s that tiny element of humanity in him that
invalidates any idea that Grey’s demented revenge plan is in any way
justified by karma. Sure, Franks the critic is an absolute apathetic
dick to his targets for no good reason. Franks, the person, however,
can feel remorse when the situation calls for it and becomes a
character that is reluctantly likable in comparison to his captor.
The supporting cast, however, holds Bitter Feast back from
greatness. It’s not that the performances are bad, however. It’s how
they factor into the plot. Amy Seimetz’s role as JT Franks’ wife,
Katherine, for instance, is a great performance, particularly evident
in an early emotional confrontation between JT and herself about what
he’s become. The problem is that the plot and script seem to bend over
backwards to get her involved in Grey’s games after not developing her
much beyond that scene. It’s understandable that Grey would want to up
the ante, but the lack of further development of Katherine and how she
feels about Franks hurts the ability to care about her plight and hurts
the movie’s ending. 
However, a more problematic character is that of
ever-working indie Jack-of-all-Trades Larry Fessenden (also producer of
the film) as Private Investigator William Coley. In theory, this should
be a great idea as it gives Grey another possible conflict threatening
his plans.In practice, however, the character’s overall fate and story
arc makes him come across as false tension and ultimately pointless.
Removing or rewriting him and increasing the Seimetz’s screentime would
have helped the overall movie greatly.
That said, Bitter Feast is still easily recommended for presenting a unique and original spin on “game-slashers” and “torture”. Its great lead characters, interesting chemistry between them, and legitimate tension overcome its storytelling and supporting cast flaws. Any movie able to milk thrills out of such seemingly non-horrific acts as cooking steak and getting a pail of water is absolutely worth a look.
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