Product Details

• Actors: Helena Bonham Carter, Ken Stott, Freddie Highmore, Victoria Hamilton
• Directors: SJ Clarkson
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT
• DVD Release Date: December 20, 2011
• Run Time: 96 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B005SW2RTC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,756 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Toast" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Based on the bittersweet story of food writer Nigel Slater's childhood, and set to the songs of Dusty Springfield, Toast is a delicious love letter to the tastes and smells that a young boy associates with his journey into adulthood. Nigel's Mother was always a poor cook, and her addiction to all things canned isn't helping. Nigel, on the other hand, laps up cookbooks as if they were porn, and spends all his free time gazing longingly at the delights offered at Percy Salt's grocery shop. Nigel's Dad worries there is something "wrong" with his son and the two find it difficult to connect, so Nigel finds friendship and a father figure in Josh, the gardener. As his mother's illness worsens, so do Nigel's relations with his father -- the Bolognese he cooks is far too exotic, the uncooked Fray Bentos pie MUST be finished, and his father's rage as Nigel insists on picking every last bit of jelly off the canned ham at the annual picnic hits an all time high. Dad then fires Josh for reasons unknown to Nigel. Just before Christmas, Nigel's mother dies, leaving Nigel and his father heartbroken. Their touching efforts to look after each other, often through gestures with food, sadly seem to miss the target. His father begins to spend his evenings at the Masonic lodge until a new cleaner, Mrs. Potter, arrives on the scene. Mrs. Potter's curves, charms and lemon meringue pies quickly bewitch Nigel's father and much to Nigel's horror, the three soon embark on a move to the country. The one silver lining in the cloud of a new school is Domestic Science class, where Nigel can finally shine. Cooking soon becomes the key weapon in the battle for Dad's affections. Ironically, the main casualty of these culinary skirmishes between Nigel and Mrs. Potter is Nigel's father, as his waistline grows and grows. Hoping to escape the madness, Nigel lands a job in the kitchen of his local pub. It is here that Nigel's eyes are opened to a world of culinary opportunity.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Mouth-Watering October 26, 2011

By Terry Knapp

Format:DVD

If you are on a diet, this is not the film for you. Based on the memoirs of cook and writer Nigel Slater, the movie is a visual culinary feast, detailing his love of food. Raised by a mother who could burn water, Nigel (played as a child by newcomer Oscar Kennedy and as an adolescent by Freddie Highmore) spends his time gazing lovingly at pictures of beautifully prepared dishes. When Mum (Victoria Hamilton) passes away, his father (Ken Stott) takes up with Mrs. Potter (Helena Bonham Carter) who may be a tart, but she cooks like a french chef. The rivalry between Nigel and Mrs. Potter forms the (pardon the pun) meat of the film, as each tries to one-up the other. The leads are uniformly fine (it is especially fun to watch Bonham Carter in this after "The King's Speech"). WARNING: You may begin to feel much like Ken Stott does: overstuffed! As an aside: I purchased this in the PAL format from amazon.co.uk for three pounds, ninety-nine pence, which translated roughly into $6.40. Even with the additional shipping costs, that is a substantial savings.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it! May 2, 2012

By Michelle

Format:DVD

I loved this movie! But I am a foodie and love almost all movies that make my mouth water- add on British humor and its all just bonus!

Other foodie type movies I love: Its Complicated, Julia and Julia, Somethings Gotta Give (some what foodie) - so if you like those movies you MIGHT like this one. If you love all things foodie related then read the book The Perfectionist.

PS. if you are at all homophobic, this movie might not be for you- there are just a couple boy on boy kissing scenes. Come on this is a coming of age story after all!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Toast December 29, 2011

By A kids review

Format:DVD

It's romantic to imagine that people with exceptional talents also have exceptional stories to tell about those talents. In the case of English food journalist Nigel Slater, it's somewhat true. Based on Slater's autobiographical novel of the same name, Toast recounts the writer's childhood growing up with an asthmatic mother who was such a poor cook that the only dish she ever mastered was, well, toast. When her illness finally gets the best of her, young Nigel and his father welcome a new addition to the family in the form of a housekeeper named Mrs. Potter, who soon wins over Nigel's father and engages Nigel himself in a sort of ongoing culinary rivalry. Toast was just a tad too saccharine for me, but I'll give it 2 stars, because I liked its breezy humor, visual touches, and judicious use of Helena Bonham Carter's talents. It's an unusual coming of age story, but its charms may just work for some.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "He's putty in mum's hands once he's had his toad-in-the-hole." October 16, 2012

By E. Hernandez VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

TOAST (2010, 96 minutes, there are 12 other films with this title) is based on the memoir of some famous food chef/critic called Nigel Slater, who is a complete stranger to me. This begins with Nigel's (a delightfully prim Oscar Kennedy) childhood, set in the 1960s around the time he lost his mother, when he also discovered the joy of food/cooking and began to deal with his sexuality.

Fast forward a few years, after old Mr. Slater (an interesting turn by Ken Stott) has remarried, to the bouncy Joan Potter (Helena Bonham Carter), an unfortunate yet well-meaning social climber who of course becomes Nigel's archnemesis. At this period Nigel is played by Freddie Highmore, who reminded me of a stuck-up Norman Bates * - and that is not good in a role like this. Highmore, in spite of his natural sweetness and willowy good looks, simply pushed the nasty envelope with his character's snotty, classist coldness.

With the film punctuated by a beautifully handled crush young Nigel has on their gardener Josh (the ever-beautiful Matthew McNulty) and a wonderful kiss the older Nigel shares with a passing acquaintance (after which Nigel says sadly, "Don't leave me here alone") - well, it has its moments but I felt ultimately it came to nothing. Apparently this is what one gets when watching a film version of a published memoir, and I was drawn in yet repulsed by the subject.

The cinematography is quite good, with a "flat depth" something like a drab painting (and this changes toward the end when everything flares with color). The acting of course is quite fun and I found moments in this film to be fall-down funny (as when Mr Slater is introduced to spaghetti the first time).... The final shot, with Nigel shoving his way into what looked like either a restaurant or chef school - it went by when I wasn't really looking - I did not like the evil feeling the scene conveyed.

Overall, I cannot say this is a family film (some Midlands humor and the accent make up lots of fun but may also be offensive). It struck me as a series of strung-together one-liners, and that is never good filmmaking no matter what anyone tells you. A director like Woody Allen could have made much of this; so much for what could have been!

I give four stars for the overall calm of the film, the cuteness of the actors and Freddie Highmore's official introduction to the world of adult roles. Also watch for the chef at the end, which is a cameo by the real Nigel. The fourth star is for bringing with great courage the subject of a gay boy's formative years, and doing it without a bunch of mindless sex (even if they chose to make the subject even more tasteless with a rather brutish, insensitive Highmore).

* UPDATE: Wow, I must be a clairvoyant after all. I have returned to this review because I see Highmore IS playing a young Norman Bates on TV in America. That explains this entire role, plus the blatant reference to it which I leave for you to discover in the film. Let me just clue you in: it is reminiscent of the closing shot of PSYCHO. This is truly strange because I don't think I have ever seen a thing like this before: an actor making a blatant reference to a future role he's going to play, before anyone knows of it. Read more ›

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Dry Toast November 4, 2012

By Val

Format:Amazon Instant Video|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you read a few of the other reviews, you get the plot. Asthmatic (inept cook) wife/sainted mum leaves son and husband behind, in steps married (and great cook)common housekeeper, Mrs. Potter who siezes her opportunity for social advancement - got his heart by way of the lonely widower's stomach, Nigel/and Mrs. Potter clash and compete "culinarily" for dad's affections.

Got that he "likes boys" early on (and women a good deal less) even without the idolized gardner's bum shot and stilted, uncomfortably inserted piggyback ride, and the oddly inserted "ballerina/cook kissing scene"... and did I mention, someone doesn't like girls? to then add the "pouf" name calling by a bullying female character, then the mean (female) teacher who makes him drink his milk and upsets his stomach - he, of course vomits on her. Then, we have bad little girl wants to show him her "knickers". Please, I see the trend. Felt like I was beaten to death with this theme, right to the end.

Kennedy/Freddy Highmore/Nigel Slater was "there" but so boring,drab and colorless. I didn't care for the early on or the older Nigel. I just came away feeling was that the character was bratty, haughty and unlikeable. To the "bitter" end, the "bitter", selfish tone of Nigel's "grown" character (ends with the rejection of "Mrs. Potter" - another punch - refusing to call her "Mrs. Slater" - and yet "another" final strike when as a last note rolls with the credits, he writes 'never saw Mrs. Potter again' or some such catty, vindictive, juvenille jab) is just whiney. There was no real bright spot in the film. Sad.

Helena Bonham Carter was fun to watch, as always and gave it her best to round out Mrs. Potter (and frankly, made her more of an appealing character than Nigel). Stott as "Mr.... Slater" was pretty forgettable too. The plot mechanisms were boring and contrived. It was drawn out and sluggish. "Toast" was a fitting title - it was dry, very bland, a bit tasteless. Wouldn't sit thru it again if they paid us. Read more ›