Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter
Rebecca Halpern's documentary provides a revealing study of one of America’s leading chefs.
Image courtesy of Blue-Eyes Films.
Had this been a film about Gordon Ramsay or Heston Blumenthal its UK release would doubtless have occurred much earlier. But as its rather cumbersome full title indicates this award-winning documentary is about a chef who was doubtless much better known in America than here and that is presumably why Rebecca Halpern's film made in 2021 is only reaching us now and with a release on digital downloads rather than in cinemas. Charlie Trotter lived from 1959 to 2013 and quickly acquired fame as a chef on opening his own restaurant in Chicago in 1987. The telling of his story on screen inevitably creates a foodie movie in that there are plenty of shots of the food being prepared and served up at Charlie Trotter's but even so it is the complex personality of Charlie himself as revealed in much archive footage and through interviews that makes this documentary intriguing.
When Charlie Trotter died of a stroke, he was only fifty-four years old and that means that plenty of his contemporaries are still around to talk about him in new footage. Among them are many other chefs including Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Gordon Sinclair and Carrie Nahabedian and in particular Grant Achatz who once worked for Trotter but went on to create Alinea, a restaurant which eventually challenged Charlie Trotter’s as the in spot for fine dining in Chicago. Ever since opening up there Trotter with his admiration for European cooking had hoped that one day his restaurant would be noted by Michelin and be given three stars so one can well understand his resentment when Chicago fell under their spotlight leading to Alinea receiving the coveted three stars and the by then legendary Charlie Trotter’s being awarded only two. However, intense feelings on Trotter’s part had long played a strong role in his life and, for all the emphasis on his culinary achievements (developing new American cuisine, introducing tasting menus of ten courses, promoting vegetarian dishes ahead of them being in vogue), it is the character of the man himself which counts for most here.
Halpern’s film begins with an archive interview with Trotter which was up and running before he realised it so that his preliminary remarks on that occasion were recorded. What he claimed not to want to say in public but which we now witness includes remarks that have doubtless become widely quoted ever since they became known. He starts off by declaring that if it weren't for the employees and the customers, the restaurant business would be the greatest business in the world. He then adds: "I hate people" and goes on to say "The customer is rarely right". In reality he may have intended these comments to be known since in 1997 he was willing to send himself up by appearing in a cameo role in the film My Best Friend's Wedding as an outspoken and arrogant chef named Charlie Trotter. Nevertheless, even if he saw no reason to hide it, Trotter had indeed acquired a reputation as a fearsome perfectionist who piled pressure on his kitchen staff and made them fear him.
The film unfolds in chronological order so the initial picture is of a young man, Chuck Trotter (that being his actual name), whose early interest in food eventually led to him working in restaurants and then to his realisation that he wanted to be his own boss and to become a chef influenced by what he saw on travels to France and Switzerland. These early years are recalled by Lisa Erlich who would become his first wife, by his sister Anne Trotter Hinkamp and by his mother Dona-Lee Trotter, a widow since 1993. Before his death Trotter's father had had a cautionary effect on how his son handled his business and the absence of that thereafter led to Charlie Trotter becoming a control freak. But, even before his father's demise, the son had become a workaholic to an extent that led to the end of his marriage to Lisa Erlich. So, while this is in many ways a success story (one of the contributors here is Ray Harris, one of Charlie's most enthusiastic long-term customers), it does indeed as the title indicates turn into a tale of decline and misfortune, health issues included (mini-strokes, a brain aneurysm). Ultimately on its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2012 Charlie would close his restaurant and close in on himself.
For three years running – in 2021, 2022 and 2023 – Rebecca Halpern's film would win awards in America as best documentary. In doing that, it was perhaps lucky. For whatever reason there is no input from Trotter’s second and third wives, Lynn and Rochelle, and the extent to which his obsession with his work impacted on them is not investigated. Consequently, while we recognise the extraordinary nature of Trotter’s life, the film never goes quite as deep as one might wish (that includes the fact that his notable contributions to charity for which he won an humanitarian award in 2012 is relegated to a brief statement at the end). It is also a film in which there is a spate of words: they certainly make the film informative but what is being said tends to dominate too consistently over the visuals. With these points in mind, I wouldn't describe this work as an outstanding documentary, but it is a thoroughly interesting work and if the subject matter appeals to you, as well it might, you won't be disappointed.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Grant Achatz, Lisa Erlich, Dona-Lee Trotter, Anne Trotter Hinkamp, Ray Harris, Reginald Watkins, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Norman Van Aken, Carrie Nahabedian, Gordon Sinclair.
Dir Rebecca Halpern, Pro Renée Frigo, Screenplay Rebecca Halpern, Ph Rod Hassler, Ed Gabriel Britz and Daniel Algarin, Music Brian Reitzell.
Oak Tree Pictures-Miracle Media/Blue-Eyes Films.
97 mins. USA. 2021. US Rel: 18 November 2022. UK Rel: 14 April 2025. No Cert.
