Good things happen to bad people. That was my impression of Adam, the lead character of John Wells’s (August: Osage County, The Company Men) imperfect but underappreciated Burnt. The Bradley Cooper (Maestro, A Star Is Born) 2015 release came when its lead actor was on a cold streak with poorly received big-budget releases such as Aloha, Joy, and Serena. This was abysmal timing as Cooper, who, the year before, had just become the 10th male actor ever to earn three consecutive acting Oscar nominations (Silver Linings Playbook, American Sniper, American Hustle).

Nestled within the misfires of Aloha, Joy, and Serena was Burnt, the story of Adam (Cooper), a daring, innovative chef of a premiere restaurant in France who, due to his temperamental behavior and substance abuse issues, had been fired by his mentor, Jean-Luc Determined to get his life back in order after hitting rock bottom, Adam punishes himself by shucking 1,000,000 oysters in a New Orleans bar before returning to London in an attempt to restart his career and earn The Third Michelin star, a prestigious award in the culinary field.

Adam’s former maitre d’, Tony (Daniel Brühl (Rush, A Most Wanted Man), now manages a high-end restaurant. Adam wants to assume restaurant duties as the head chef. Tony’s reservations about hiring Adam are justified. He sets a set number of parameters to which Adam must adhere, including weekly drug tests and regular meetings with a psychiatrist to work on his emotional outbursts. Tony knows he’s juggling knives of fire but feels the rewards are worth the risk.

Adam builds his team, including some younger aspiring, disciplined line chefs and some of his former colleagues, including Michel (Omar Sly – Jurassic World, The Wolf’s Call) and Helene (Sienna Miller – The Lost City of Z, Live By Night). The relationship with each is paramount to the backstory and the trajectory of our current one. Together with Tony are the core four who we follow. Unfortunately, the stories of Michele, Helene, and Tony are so buried behind Adam that we barely care.

Cooper was fabulous as Adam, a protagonist who is often difficult to cheer for. He is a self-sabotaging hardass whose poor treatment of others is the norm and offers only brief periods of humanity. Cooper has a history of portraying characters with mental illness or addiction. The difference between his characters and other films and this one is how deplorable Adam is at times. He’s difficult to root for, and a part of us doesn’t want to see him succeed. Cooper captures his character’s complexity in a way others may have failed. He holds together a movie with a script that feels flimsy and in need of heavy edits. The timeline advances in ways that do not always make sense. We rely on Cooper’s facial hair to know how far we advance between scenes.

There is much that happens before the film happens that feels random and does not enhance the story. These include the group of people that Adam owes money to and why that is important, his past relationship with Tony’s sister, Anne Marie (Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina, The Light Between Oceans), or his bitter and long-time rival Reece (Matthew Rhys – F/X’s The Americans, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood). His past relationship with Helene also needed to be flushed out better. The connection between these two characters feels forced.

The kitchen scenes are great. The intensity was riveting. It felt like we were members of Adam’s team, watching earnestly as dishes were prepared, only to see them thrown away because they didn’t meet his definition of perfect. Adam is the type of manager who demands the best. However, his win at all costs, obsession for perfection, and disregard for anyone besides himself make him someone I would not have an association with, let alone have as a leader at work. F/X’s The Bear (2022-) has many elements from Burnt, with Jeremy Allen White’s drawing seeming to be a spawn from Cooper. While I do not know if there is any connection between the two, it was interesting to have seen Burnt once before The Bear premiered and once after.