Soundtrack Review: Various Artists – ‘No Reservations’

By Jeff Swindoll Jul 25, 2007, 23:40 GMT

Soundtrack for the movie No Reservations ...more

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, and Abigail Breslin star in this story of a driven chef (Zeta-Jones) in a trendy Manhattan restaurant.  She has to take in her niece (Breslin) when tragedy strikes and has to adjust to the addition of both the girl and a new sous-chef (Eckhart) to the restaurant. 

The new chef is the opposite of Zeta-Jones’ character so you know that opposites will be attracting by the end of the picture.  Since the movie takes place in a food centered industry, its no surprise that the first track is called “Truffles and Quail,” composed by Conrad Pope.  We then move on to a redo of the Dean Martin classic “Sway” by Michael Buble. 

The soundtrack also features contributions by Philip Glass (“Zoe & Kate Watch Video” and “Zoe goes to the Restaurant”), Luciano Pavarotti (“Celeste Aida,” “Cielo e mar,” and “Nessun dorma”), and has a dessert course of Liz Phair performing “Count on my Love.”

Quite a lot of the album is some nice opera-type tunes, which you can imagine, get lots of playtime in the trendy eateries of Manhattan (and even probably the less trendy too).  The movie looks to be a nice romantic film and its setting in the kitchen reminded me of Kitchen Confidential - which I happened to enjoy greatly (though this film seems to trump romance over comedy). 

The soundtrack is a good one and it’s something you could put on with a nice glass of wine and a good meal.