This film is spectacular. As one who felt I related to a lot of it despite the difference of time era, it summed up not accepting what life throws at you. You don't have to put up with others if they treat you badly and this is a huge theme people should spread more. You can be whatever you want if you put your mind to it and don't let anyone stand in your way. This film was hard to watch at times for it's flashback's to my own life but definitely glad I found it.

Someone recommended this movie to me, since I love to cook and enjoy all things about the act of cooking up wonderful things. It came up amidst a discussion of great foodie movies, and I thought I ought to watch this one, in my eternal search to find something to top the perfection that was Eat Drink Man Woman (1994).This movie fell short on multiple aspects.As a general narrative, one of the things every good story tries to do is build a sense of empathy around the protagonist. In this case he seems like a whiny, arrogant, spoilt brat and there's very little in his struggle that anyone might identify or empathise with. His relationship with his father is strained, but both his father and biological mother are portrayed as such cardboard cutout characters that they don't seem convincing at all. The mother is shown to be a lousy cook, and even the representation of this inability seems to have been overacted and exaggerated in an utterly unconvincing way. Nothing the protagonist does even paints himself in any positive light. His struggle doesn't seem greater than any that anyone watching the movie might have had to endure.The movie could have easily redeemed itself in its portrayal of food, but they only appear as cursory flashes as Helena Bonham Carter's character cook up one storm after another, with the camera barely pausing on a single dish for more than half a second. I understand this is a TV movie, but there's a clear lack of skill in the direction and writing of this movie. I think the actors did the best they could have with what they were given to work with, but the movie does really drag for the first 40 minutes or so, before Helena Bonham Carter's character shows up and actually starts to make the movie watchable. To be clear, the movie doesn't drag because it's boring, but because it's mostly spent with this annoying child who whines and throws tantrums, and his parents have no depth beyond his father hating him (unreasonably, without even trying to understand why) and mother being a good for nothing sick person.Some scenes even seem quite hard to believe, like one where the boy brings home some spaghetti to cook, and the father breaks a piece of raw spaghetti and goes 'what is this, it's so hard!' I find it extremely hard to believe that people in the UK wouldn't know how spaghetti works in the 70s.This movie began to annoy me within the first five minutes of watching it, and did nothing to relieve this, only going from bad to worse.I only chose to write this review in case another fellow culinary enthusiast decided to watch this film hoping for a great food-related movie. Don't, you will be sorely disappointed.

Young Nigel Slater loves his mother although the only thing she can cook is toast. She is utterly hopeless in the kitchen and his father (Ken Stott) is dismissive of his son. They drive away his older friend Josh. His mother gets sick and dies. His father hires Mrs. Potter (Helena Bonham Carter) to clean. Nigel dislikes her unrelenting flirtations with his infuriating father but he has to admire her cooking. In his teen years, Nigel (Freddie Highmore) starts to cook as competition heats up against Mrs. Potter.Nigel Slater is a British celebrity chef. There are some complaints about accuracy but I don't see any value with being accurate about a celebrity chef. The main problem for me is a failure to get to the central conflict of the story quickly enough. Helena Bonham Carter comes in around the midpoint and Freddie Highmore is only there in the last third. To me, that's the best conflict and the most fun part of the movie. His early childhood has some drama but could easily be cut in half. The movie could also give more time for his relationship and some friends in his own age. It also may help to know Nigel Slater as a celebrity.

Little Nigel Slater (Oscar Kennedy as a boy, Freddie Highmore as a teen) loves his mum (Victoria Hamilton) very much, except in one matter. She is the world's worst cook and never buys anything fresh, only food in tins. His father (Ken Stott) doesn't seem to mind but many a dinner is difficult to swallow. Mum's backup is always the reliable toast, popping out of the silver dragon, and spread with butter and jam. Nigel consumes quite a bit of toast, needless to say. A chance encounter with a young gardener in the neighborhood opens a world beyond the tin. Sadly, though, Mother becomes sicker with asthma and dies. Young Nigel is despondent and so is his dad. Yet, before long, Father hires an eccentric, divorced housekeeper, Mrs. Potter (Helena Bonham Carter) to clean up the home. Mrs. Potter dresses exotically and plays Dusty Springfield records as she "disinfects" the place from top to bottom. Out of the blue, the buttoned-downed Mr. Slater becomes smitten with Mrs. Potter, much to Nigel's chagrin. Well, opposites can attract. Before long, the adults decide to move to a remote part of England, dragging a kicking Nigel with them. Thus, an enmity has sprung up between Mrs. P and Nigel. When a teen, Nigel signs up for cooking classes at school and vows to "outcook" his stepmum, even down to her lemon meringue pie. Can he do it? This is quite an unusual film, based on the true tale of Slater, who became a chef and food writer in his later years. The performances of Stott, Kennedy, and Highmore are great and Carter delivers a wham-slam turn as Mrs. P. Then, the early sixties time span and British setting is a treat, as is, naturally, the lovely songs of Springfield, one of the best female singers ever. Mrs. Potter's costumes are also lots of fun and provide a great counterpoint to the more conservative choices given to Stott and Hamilton. There is one point that might upset some viewers. Nigel is gay and there is a scene of him kissing another male as a teen. It is quite a minor point in the overall movie but it may deter some viewers. Nevertheless, Toast deserves a big, hearty glass of wine, in a raised hand, as its extraordinary story is captivating.