Who'd have guessed back in the mid to late 90s that there'd actually come a time when you'd miss the romantic comedy? I for one couldn't stand the genre, and felt as if I was tripping over toothy beauty Julia Roberts and her same-old schmaltzy shtick far too often, and when John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale got in on the act with their serendipitous encounters, it was high time to declare, that after much speculation; romance was indeed, dead. African-Australian director Scot Hicks ('Shine') is perhaps the unlikeliest candidate to attempt a revival, and yet succeeds, with his surprisingly good remake of Sandra Nettelbeck's German comedy (yes, there is such a thing) 'Mostly Martha'(2001). 'No Reservations' sees steely Chef de Cuisine Kate (Catherine Zeta Jones) trying to retain control as a series of unforeseen events rattle her (caramel) cage. Having sacrificed a personal life for the noble cause of raising her orphaned niece, and maintaining a certain standard in some bourgeois New York restaurant, Kate goes tête-à-tête with stylish new sous chef Nick (Aaron Eckhart picking up where Dickie Gere left off). Eckhart, a great actor, successfully trades suave lady-killer for average bloke role, though his happy-go-lucky antics occasionally veer off into unintentional hilarity and Nick's upbeat 'I'm mad, me' persona belies an unexplored Prozac dependency. Now I wouldn't exactly call myself a Catherine Zeta Jones fan, but I enjoyed 'Intolerable Cruelty', 'Traffic', 'America's Sweethearts' 'Entrapment' and 'The Mask Of Zorro' (that's it!) whilst 'No Reservations', though I've would"ve liked to have seen the original to compare both versions, is definitely one of her best onscreen performances. A perfect date movie, 'No Reservations' is better than the sum of its parts and will also substitute as a welcome dose of nostalgia (I know the 90s weren't that long ago, but they feel as if they were) held in place by its likeable leads and believable, if expectedly sentimental, script. Michelin star.