Ever-ravenous critics attending the press screening of Lasse Hallström's sweetly spicy dish were served tasty bowls of vegetable curry. It was a smart move – with its droolsome depictions of briskly fluffed omelettes, plump ripe fruits and richly sauced meats, this isn't a film you'd want to watch on an empty stomach. Set in an obscenely bucolic south of France (the misty-eyed views make Ridley Scott's A Good Year look like a gritty Ken Loach production), the story centres on culinary whiz Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal), whose father opts to open a curry house across the street from a celebrated French restaurant. Food and culture wars ensue as proud Papa (Om Puri) and hoity Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren) bicker and squabble while Hassan starts to break eggs with sous chef Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon) who teaches him the saucy secrets of "classic" French cuisine. Despite boasting Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey (who championed Richard C Morais's source novel) as producers, this remains more of an amuse-bouche than a hearty meal – as delicately presented as the dishes in Madame Mallory's Michelin-starred establishment, and with more than a tang of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Puri is great fun as the indomitable head of the family, and Mirren convinces as the grand dame, despite dishing out her lines in an accent that staunchly refuses to set.