THE BIG CHEESE is playing at SBIFF (Santa Barbara International Film Festival), and I had the opportunity to see an early look. Here’s my spoiler-free take:
THE BIG CHEESE is a documentary that falls into a category I always go back to, watching people discuss and live their passions. This theme was proven to me when I saw TIM’S VERMEER back in 2014. That movie is literally watching paint dry for most of it, yet the protagonist is so passionate that audiences will love it.
At the start of the film, there’s a voiceover that states, “Cheese, almost everyone loves it.” A note for readers: I’m one of the rare people who don’t love cheese. I’ve been a vegetarian for nearly 25 years and a vegan for 10 of those. So seeing a full-length documentary all about cheese sounded like a nightmare. Yet the leads are so much fun and passionate that I was instantly along for the ride and actually shed a few tears by the end of their journey.
THE BIG CHEESE is done in a countdown style. Meaning, it involves a group of U.S. cheesemongers seeking international recognition and preparing for the Mondial du Fromage (World Cheese Tour) competition. For those uninitiated, a cheesemonger is like a sommelier for cheese, but in the words of the filmmakers, “less pretension and more punk rock.” The film is comparable to another SBIFF entry, RISING THROUGH THE FRAY, since both are centred around the events leading up to a competition. The key difference is that the leads in THE BIG CHEESE are just so much more likable. I could follow Adam “Mr Moo” Moskowitz anywhere. Seriously. His overbearing Jewish style makes him the clear protagonist (aka ‘Big Cheese’), and his path to change is so heartfelt.
And I believe that is thanks to director Sara Joe Wolansky. She doesn’t reinvent the (cheese) wheel here with a unique style; she instead leans into the known documentary mechanisms and uses whimsy and the larger-than-life personalities to speak for themselves. Even when the personalities are not as big as Adam’s, she’s still able to get the best out of them. This is especially true for Courtney Johnson, who has so much to prove in her academic style that her path to France is as rewarding as Adam’s.
Final Thought: Like a good cheddar cheese, I hope my final thought “ages well,” as I predict THE BIG CHEESE is going to be a fan-favorite at SBIFF this year. The movie has a ton of heart, which is going to moooo-ve audiences in Santa Barbara soon. 🧀
THE BIG CHEESE premieres at SBIFF on Fri 2/6 – 8:40 PM
