In the new documentary “The Big Cheese,” cheesemongers take a slice of the spotlight. There are fierce rivalries among competitors in the United States and European countries (so unsparing, those French), and challenges that hinge on the ability of contestants to rhapsodize about tangy cheeses like Roquefort.
The film opens with a man who wears a cow onesie: Adam Jay Moskowitz, a third-generation New York-based cheese importer known as “ Mister Moo.” He is determined to help the United States finally claim top honors at the Mondial du Fromage in Tours, France, a biennial competition where the winner takes home a modest cash prize, but perhaps more significantly, the title of world’s best cheesemonger.
Structurally, this film has the zip and flow of “Top Chef”: contestants vie for a championship, intimate narratives raise the emotional stakes, underdogs come out on top. The director Sara Joe Wolansky approaches the subject’s history largely through the lens of Moskowitz, but a deeper exploration of the United States’ long effort to emerge from Europe’s shadow might have given it a richer identity beyond the familiar beats of a televised cooking competition. This is ultimately a tale of resilience, and Wolansky focuses on a kind of nourishment that transcends food: the power of community.
The urge of the American contestants to prevail deepens when she turns to the poignant back story of Sam Rollins of Cowbell Cheese Shop in Portland, Ore., a Mondial competitor whose family lost their restaurant — “home,” as his mother describes it — in a wildfire in 2020. “The Big Cheese” reveals itself to be a satisfyingly tender story, framing Moskowitz as both a survivor and a spiritual leader.
The Big Cheese Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 27 minutes. In theaters.
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