No Reservations (2007) looks good on paper and on the screen, but is a piece of fluff not worth watching. It looks good on paper because Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, and Abigail Breslin, with Patricia Clarkson in a supporting role, not only have star power but plenty of acting chops. It looks good on screen because the set designers, costumers, and cinematographers do what Hollywood can do so well—a professional job. But the movie falls flat because it is professional and nothing beyond. A British reviewer said, this is what happens when those involved regard making a movie as a job rather than an art. No Reservations is also numbingly predictable. Try to predict the following. A highly talented, well-educated chef (Zeta-Jones) runs a driven kitchen producing award-winning food, and a scruffy, self-educated sous-chef (Eckhart) shows up singing Italian operas and joking with the kitchen staff—who does the movie side with in this clash? Correct, the female chef does nothing right, an anal-retentive drudge, while the carefree, unpredictable guy can do no wrong. Try another. When the chef’s sister dies in a car crash and the chef inherits the young daughter, the chef tries her hardest to make the elementary-school child feel at home, but the kid is dissatisfied and alienated, refusing to eat, crying over family photo albums, running away, and so on—who does the movie side with in this clash? Correct, the aunt can do nothing right, although the niece does say at one point “you’re not doing everything wrong.” Do you think the two cooks fall in love? Do you think they fall out of love? When he goes to move from New York to California, do you think she sees the error of her ways, patches things up, and they start their own restaurant? And do you think the little girl is delighted with her new, fun family? Correct, of course. In the year since No Reservations opened, it has grossed $43 million at the box office. There are better and more responsible ways to spend our money.