This entry is stretching a point, I’ll tell you right up front.
Have you noticed the reactions of characters being revolted by their food or drink and tossing it aside or pouring the drink out?
I was watching “The French Connection” and there is a scene where the cop, Doyle, pursuing the drug smuggler lord has to stand out in frigid temperatures across the street from the lavish, Four-Star French restaurant where the kingpin is consuming a seven course, exquisite meal. The cop is reduced to eating a warmed-over slice of pizza and some disgusting coffee. After taking a sip, Doyle exhibits a grimaced face reacting to the swill he is drinking and dumps it out.
Jump to “Lord of Illusions” where Scott Bakula is a private investigator involved in a perplexing case involving some brutal murders and The Supernatural. Backula is having a really bad day in the movie and is starving and gets a hamburger from a fast-food joint. He takes one bite, and makes faces and chucks the offending sandwich in the garbage.
What does it all mean? Maybe, an already difficult situation is being made worse by no comfort (or quality) received from the food: “Things are just not going my way. My food is also rotten”.
It could also be actors performing “a bit of business” in the course of the story. The character has the opportunity to react and act disgusted to display some acting chops.
The use of this device in “The French Connection” made sense because Doyle was drinking a 50-cent cup of bad coffee and we have the juxtaposition of the villain dining in the cozy French restaurant.
In “Lord of Illusions”, the burger is a more costly item to throw away and there is no irony in the bit being placed where it is other than it shows what bad luck the P.I. is having.
You can try and make sense of this one and try to figure it out if you care to.
I couldn’t find the exact clips I was referring to above at You Tube but have linked a video of Gordon Ramsey eating revolting food at dining establishments. Compliments to The Chef!
