Film

Melissa McCarthy Is Ferociously Funny in the Trailer for ‘Cook-Off!’

by:
September 22, 2017
14 Comments

A lot has changed for Melissa McCarthy in the past decade: She was once slumming it in support, many of her roles relegated to television, but she’s since become a bona fide star who commands astronomically high box office numbers. But there was an early, little-known film that let her show off her leading lady chops: 2007’s Cook-Off!.

The film, directed by Cathryn Michon and Guy Shalem, originally screened at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival but was subsequently shelved, going without a proper theatrical release for a decade. Earlier this week, though, Lionsgate Premiere released the trailer for the film, which they’ve decided to roll out in theaters nationwide and through video-on-demand on November 17.

Cook-Off! is an R-rated mockumentary that concerns the fictional Van Rookle Farms Cooking Contest, styled after competitive cooking competitions that attract amateur home cooks from across the country. They’re all characters with a capital C, ravenous for the $1 million prize and the fame it would give them.

Shop the Story

Releasing the film now is a shrewd move: McCarthy's star is brighter than ever, and the cultural appetite for watching cooking competitions hasn’t exactly waned since Michon and Shalem made this film. Maybe Cook-Off! was worth the wait.

Cook-Off! will be released in theaters nationwide and Video on Demand on November 17.

Listen Now

Join The Sandwich Universe co-hosts (and longtime BFFs) Molly Baz and Declan Bond as they dive deep into beloved, iconic sandwiches.

Listen Now
Tags:

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • petalpusher
    petalpusher
  • Debra Poole
    Debra Poole
  • Chris Ok
    Chris Ok
  • brid
    brid
  • Lucky
    Lucky
Mayukh Sen
Mayukh Sen is a James Beard Award-winning food and culture writer in New York. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Bon Appetit, and elsewhere. He won a 2018 James Beard Award in Journalism for his profile of Princess Pamela published on Food52.

Popular on Food52

14 Comments

petalpusher
petalpusher September 29, 2017
Finally, a serious film on the complexities of the industrial food marketing process. So pleased they decided the time was right for folks to 'get' the message. Melissa McCarthy is a wonderful messenger. I already miss her as
"Spicy".
 
petalpusher
petalpusher September 29, 2017
Finally, a serious film on the complexities of the industrial food marketing process. So pleased they decided the time was right for folks to 'get' the message. Melissa McCarthy is a wonderful messenger. I already miss her as
"Spicy".
 
petalpusher
petalpusher September 29, 2017
Finally, a serious film on the complexities of the industrial food marketing process. So pleased they decided the time was right for folks to 'get' the message. Melissa McCarthy is a wonderful messenger. I already miss her as
"Spicy".
 
Debra P.
Debra P. September 29, 2017
I totally love Melissa and I LOVE cooking competition shows. This looks somewhat like a Christopher Guest movie and I'll definitely be watching!
 
Chris O.
Chris O. September 28, 2017
Bad stuff.
 
brid
brid September 28, 2017
No she isn't funny and this is a straight dip from 'Best in Show'.
 
Lucky
Lucky September 28, 2017
Shoulda stay shelved. That movie looks so bad. It is definitely a candidate for the Razzie in the Worst movie division! That woman is disgusting.
 
Joycelyn
Joycelyn September 28, 2017
"That woman" is quite an accomplished woman as she is entertaining to a great many people.
How odd that you personally find her disgusting.
One can only assume ( and I'm probably right ) your reason for saying such a thing.
 
petalpusher
petalpusher September 29, 2017
Hey Lucky, in your next life hope you shoulda coulda woulda havva betta sense of humah. So judgie. Gotta go - time to eat a can of frosting.
 
PlumBob
PlumBob September 30, 2017
If there was something humorous to say, I would have. I don't like cooking show competitions. And I don't think Ms. McCarthy can act. IMNSHO, she is an embarrassment to all legitimate actors. Joycelyn, your insinuation of something not so nice, is an insult to my being a critic. FYI, a woman whose acting chops are far superior to Ms. McCarthy's is Kathy Bates. Any assumption's there?
 
PlumBob
PlumBob September 30, 2017
PlumBob??? I have no clue how that got in there. I'm "Lucky" Sheesh.....
 
Lucky
Lucky September 30, 2017
OK, got that fixed. Somehow I was logged in as someone else. Strange...I shouldn't have been able to do that. YO! Food52...better check your security here....As this reply shows, I *am* Lucky. WHEW!
 
BerryBaby
BerryBaby September 22, 2017
That's Melissa over a decade ago!
The movie has been shelved for that long?
 
M
M September 22, 2017
Film distributors do this all the time. A once unknown/struggling actor in a crappy/forgotten/shelved movie makes it big, and the old movie is (re)released. Most of the time they're in a bit part, or part of the support/ensemble, but the marketing will re-frame them as the star. (Which I presume happened here, since this article frames McCarthy as the star of what is obviously an ensemble comedy.)

So, it's not shrewd; it's common. If anything, it's shocking they didn't jump on this opportunity earlier in the last 6 years of her success. Especially last year, to tie into the return of Gilmore Girls, since this was filmed right after the end of McCarthy's run on GG, and this part looks like a bridge between Sookie and her future, more absurd comedy work.