Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off (A Review)
My thoughts on a Disney channel original movie. *Some minor spoilers*
Like a lot of people, I grew up with Disney channel movies. Those early 2000s movies were definitely different than what Disney channel produces nowadays. I recently have been re-watching some of these movies that I first saw well over a decade ago. One of them I remember enjoying as a child was Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off. Here are some of my thoughts about the movie.
Although watching the film nowadays brings back a lot of memories and bleeds nostalgia, the main struggle in this movie, I just don't buy. Since when is it a "big deal" when a young man enjoys cooking? Especially in 2003. They act like it's a "girl thing" to enjoy cooking. Are they living in the year 1950? Bobby Flay even has a cameo in the film for crying out loud! At school when it's revealed he likes to cook, the whole student body laughs at him and bullies him. And what's strange is the home economics class applauded him and congratulated him when they were told he was a finalist in the cook-off. All of a sudden those same students think guys cooking food is lame? I just don't buy it. As a former middle/high school student, I can tell you with great certainty, if a boy expressed that he loved to cook, nobody would give a damn. They would just carry on with their habits of sneaking vodka on campus in a sparkling water bottle and underage smoking at the donut shop before first period. Yes, that actually happened. I guess I'll just accept that in this story's world that people think cooking is way too girly.
The fact that he thought he could "kind of" cook because he puts toppings on hot dogs is actually a bit funny. That's like me claiming to be of Betty Crocker or Rachael Ray status just because I can heat up hot pockets in a microwave. The same types of scenes (involving food of course) were also repeated multiple times. Isn't one food fight and one kitchen montage enough? What is it with kid movies obsessing over food fights? It's not a common thing in American public schools last I checked. Also, I didn't fantasize about food fights as a child but according to kid movies, I should've been. This movie loved CGI too. Basically, whenever an item was thrown up in the air, it was animated. I don't know why. Especially when it's bad CGI. But it was 2003, so I don't expect stellar animation.
I will say, the best joke was when an annoying girl who also loves cooking (Bridget) asks the home economics teacher if her love of cooking is why people bully her and the teacher tells her, that's not why, there's plenty of other reasons. Damn! Sick burn!
I do appreciate the message they were trying to convey. Which is, to do what you're passionate about and not care what people think. Sure, people will be horrible to you just because you like something they don't understand but don't let that get to you. It was nice that Eddie's dad accepted his son in the end and his friends eventually supported him. Eddie's dad (who's name I don't remember) was well, a horrible dad. He just assumed his youngest son wanted to be a professional baseball player and was wondering why college scouts weren't coming to watch Eddie. Eddie's fourteen. Maybe that's why coach dad! He wondered why Eddie never told him about his interest in cooking. Dude, you're one of the most judgmental human beings on this planet. And he was also making fun of a player's dad for being a nurse. Maybe he's just jealous because the nurse makes more money than him.
A perfect movie? No. A decent Disney movie that's heartwarming? Yes.
About the Creator
Kacey D.
Fiction and non-fiction writer with a lot of interests and a broad taste.
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