Customer Reviews

"I knew the man and several food industry colleagues. Spot on."

"It could have been three episodes just fine. Too long. Enlightening about how far a persons enablers will go to continue denial. Good use of old footage. Would have loved one of his victims to talk with his minister."

"I lived in Steilacoom when he had the Bair Store and used to see him at the Grand china restaurant. Excellent piece about his life, I thoroughly enjoyed it"

"I have been waiting for this documentary forever. The frugal gourmet show and books were the bond for many years between my immigrant grandparents with whom I lived as a young adult. Luckily, his downfall came shortly after they had both passed. Great job!"

"“I Bid you Peace” was artfully done and journalistically sound. I especially liked the opening of each segment with the lighting of a stove burner. The documentary was engrossing, but in a much different way than "The Frugal Gourmet” cooking show that I loved to watch. As the owner of three of Jeff Smith’s cookbooks, which I still use today, it’s hard to reconcile Jeff Smith, the minister and chef, with Jeff Smith, the pedophile. I had my doubts as to whether the claims against Smith were true, but with all the evidence presented in the film, I no longer question his guilt. Speaking as a former journalist, the film hit all the right notes for fairness and balance. There is a broad array of interviewees. Included are journalists, friends, foes, former employees and victims. The victims are to be commended for speaking out. The only complaint: There were no closed captions."

"This was an excellent documentary, especially for those of us who remember Jeff Smith, watched his shows and bought his cookbooks. I give this four stars instead of five, as I thought it sometimes overelaborated and some parts had an excessive number of interviews. I had two encounters with Mr. Smith, both at book signings. The first was a pleasure, as he was relaxed and gracious. The second was awful, his having screamed at me and berated me for daring to ask him to sign a second book of his that I had bought. I remember that, at the first event, he had an adult beverage at hand and, at the second event, he did not. In this regard, your documentary explained much. Despite all that came to light subsequently, I still regard him as the individual who got me much more interested in food and cooking, and I still cook his recipes. Dave M."

"It's a troubling piece to watch, but excellently well done. I knew Jeff socially (very slightly) in the Chaplin's Pantry days, and it was an open secret that Jeff had been in trouble for messing around with young men. I assumed that's why he left UPS. The piece brings out that he was both a tragic figure and a monster. It's far more than a "hit piece," it is a deeply probing study of conflicted personality and an icon."

"It was fair, and used interviews with all points of view. I was a huge fan and enjoyed the shows/destinations and cookbooks very much. He was flawed, but had many demons. I met him once and know a few chefs who had worked with him. As the show said, you never knew what you were going to get and his behavior with others in the profession was While guilt was never established due to the settlement, it seems a lot of individuals were damaged."

"It’s very well done. It seems you tried to fairly represent all sides of a very complicated person."

"This is a great view into a very timely topic, namely famous and powerful narcissistic personalities in our society and the damage they can do. Just as happened with Jeff Smith, they at first seem charming, charismatic, knowledgeable, and engaging, and can have legions of fans. Before people realize it, they may be drawn into the web of narcissist's creation. Especially vulnerable are younger people who can be targeted for special treatment, as happened here. I was interviewed for this project although I did not appear in it; I was also employed by Jeff at one time. I thought Chris Johnson did a great job of showing how it all seemed fine at first for Jeff and the people he interacted with until the dark side of Jeff began to reveal itself. On the one hand, I applaud Chris for staying focused on the people Jeff targeted for the overt abuse; on the other hand broadening the focus would have provided insight into patterns of narcissistic behavior so they become more clear to all."

"Years ago around my dinner table I pulled out Jeff Smiths cooking with wine to glorify the talent and skills of the man. At the dinner my friends were enjoying I was told “haven’t you heard?” The show was long off the air so I never took the time to investigate. I bid you Peace is an eye opener to the wizard behind the curtain. Thank you for making this and I hope to see it everywhere soon"

"Very thorough dive into Jeff. Perhaps 1 to 2 episodes too many. However, if you didn't know where the story would end, the long exposition on Jeff's rise makes his fall all the more tragic."