‘A Recipe for Seduction’ Review: “Finger Lickin’ Good”
Like everyone else, I thought A Recipe for Seduction was a joke. How could it not be? A movie about a horny Colonel Sanders? Why would that even exist? I don’t know if it’s 2020 turning around for the better, but thank God it does.
As much as I wish I could write a whole book on everything I love about this 15-minute short, there’s really not much to say. The plot follows Jessica Mancera (Justene Alpert), a young heiress who must choose between her rich boyfriend Billy Garibaldi the Third (Chad Doreck) and the new estate chef Harland Sanders (Mario Lopez), who has a secret chicken recipe that will change the world. That’s it. That’s the plot. It runs for only 15 minutes. So, there’s not much you can do with that time frame.
The idea of a Lifetime movie about the KFC Chicken guy getting women may seem stupid, but that’s what reeled me in. I thought it was just going to be stupid, but it was actually near-perfect satire. While the product placement was obvious, the short pokes fun at the cliche Lifetime and Hallmark, made for TV romance movie genre. It parodies them in a way that’s just long enough to be funny, while not overstaying its welcome. The acting is over the top and cheesy, just like their Classic KFC bowls and the dialogue is as perfect as their 11 herbs and spices. A Recipe for Seduction is very self-aware and knows exactly what it wants to be. The cliff hanger ending may even call for a sequel.
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Keep in mind that this isn’t the first time KFC has done some weird form of advertisement. KFC has even worked with DC Comics numerous times to create comics about the dude. Colonel Sanders even teamed up with The Green Lantern! Silly promotional material is kind of their thing. The fact that the production looks like a high-quality Lifetime movie only makes the movie funnier.
A while back, one of our writers compared the slasher genre to macaroni. He said, “You can get the gourmet stuff or you can have the blue box. You know what you’re getting.” That’s exactly what this is. It’s the blue box of macaroni. A great film, this is not. It’s just a funny little YouTube-style clip about Colonel Sanders falling in love. It’s fun and isn’t very long. If you’re a fan of the so-bad-it’s-good genre, I recommend you tune in for the next airing.
The only thing that bummed me out was that he is never once referenced as “Colonel Sanders.” – Derek Flores
Rating: 9/10
A Recipe for Seduction is available on Lifetime.
The film stars Mario Lopez, Justene Alpert, and Chad Doreck.