Average Rating: 
Rating: - Sweet with a hint of chili powder
I've read the reviews that say this was a light concoction not worthy of an Oscar nod. Perhaps such an old-fashioned, sweet tale of acceptance and roots is easily trampled under the boots of Roman gladiators. But if you want to know which movie I ran out to buy as soon as it was available, it's this one. I have watched it many times over and never tire of it. It is the details that matter here; the incredibly beautiful cinematography and haunting score, the sets that echo the chocolate theme everywhere you look (check out Alfred Molina's office--the paint on the walls is mahogany so rich you could eat it). The acting by the principles is fine-Depp and Binoche have great chemistry-but it's the secondary characters that stand out; the heartbreaking daughter with her imaginary kangaroo that is the only stable thing in her life, the luminous Lena Olin (who in my opinion should have been nominated for best supporting actress and perhaps even given the lead) who practically steals the show from Juliette Binoche, and the always regal Judi Denche. Alfred Molina gives a multilayered performance; for a person with such broad features that would so easily lend themselves to caricature, his sublety and range is brilliant; he draws a complete portrait of a person who has let his loneliness turn to bitterness and fanaticism. It is his grand dive into what he would have previously thought of as decadence but is actually an admittance of vulnerability that gives this movie its greatest poignance.
Rating:  - Manufactured
There is nothing wrong with sweet movies. I love sweet movies. I love sweet, charming, affectionate movies that observe human nature through humorous and insightful lenses. I saw just such a movie last year. It was called "Almost Famous."If you haven't seen that particular title yet, you may have to after watching "Chocolat;" I can't think of a more appropriate way to wash out that synthetic aftertaste. Movies like "Chocolat" aren't written or directed--they're engineered. Perhaps the finest chocolate requires an exact recipe, but provocative and entertaining cinema doesn't. Just the opposite, really--great filmmaking resists formula. But this inconsequential fluff piece, which imagines an insular French community where the transforming power of chocolate is enough to provoke life-changing epiphanies, is so blandly predictable, so precisely calculated to make you feel warm and fuzzy, that you almost wish--no, beg--for something unexpected and off-the-wall to happen. What makes "Chocolat" so easily digestible--and what led the Academy to idiotically award the film five undeserved Oscar nominations, aside from Miramax's relentlessly tacky advertising campaign--is the undeniable skill and craftsmanship in front of and behind the camera. When you've got a director as respected as Lassë Hallstrom and A-list talent like Juliette Binoche and Judi Dench, you can be sure it's all going to go down smoothly. Gorgeous cinematography and sumptuous shots of melting chocolate certainly don't hurt. But when these ingredients are at the disposal of a script that relies so frustratingly on age-old conventions, a script that obliviously trots out the most pedestrian characters--and from the self-righteous mayor and the battered wife to the innocent boy with the domineering mother, they're all here--you have to wonder what the point of assembling all this talent is. Binoche does absolutely nothing in this film to warrant her best actress nomination--nothing, perhaps, except to remind you that a long time ago she actually took on challenging roles. Ditto Dench, who is such a towering performer that she shouldn't even be looking down her nose at a film like this. The fact that "Chocolat" paid off so handsomely for Miramax is disheartening indeed--not only because it cheated far superior movies of their just desserts, but because of the unavoidable suggestion that this film actually says something important. It doesn't. What it does, in fact, is indulge a message of staggering phoniness and simplicity. "Tolerance" is the operative word in "Chocolat's" artificial little fairy-tale universe--embrace everyone and everything, toss out the narrow-minded regulations and principles that once held you captive, and oh, have a Belgian creme while you're at it because chocolate is the key to unlocking the deepest mysteries of human nature. It's movies like this that give art-house pretension a bad name.
Rating:  - A Magical Movie For Me and You!
CHOCOLAT is a movie that warms the heart. It has a mystical feeling about it that is generated by the incredible performance of Juliette Binoche (Wuthering Heights, Blue) and the fictional village where her character creates a chocolate shop of magic in a small European town.It has warmth about the relationship of a strained mother and daughter who spend their time moving from town to town trying to set up shop. A Chocolate shop it was directed by Lasse Hallstrom (The Shipping News, The Cider House Rules) who masterfully makes you, the audience, a part of this film. From the evil towns would be "Mayor" to the towns very own "Mistress" - it has something for everyone to talk about. This film is soft to the touch and has an incredible amount of humor in it. Including the concept that chocolate is an aphrodisiac. They play that to the hilt. Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hallow) plays the love interest who is the stranger from out of town who is also the bad boy. There is a woman in the story cleverly played by Judy Dench (Shakespeare In Love, Elizabeth, the 4 James Bond movies) who is old and doing everything she isn't supposed and teaches the lessons of life, love and enjoying yourself. It comes at a high price for her in the end. The story is fun energetic and it is photographed extremely well. It was a charm about it that makes you want chocolate but more, importantly, want to enjoy it to its fullest. The DVD extras include a really good commentary and real detailed documentary on making this fictional town seem very real. This is a good film for the whole family. It has a good simple story and a lot of passion. Just a good feeling type of film...
|
