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Reviews:
Perfectly
Sweet: Chocolat
by Christian De Matteo
Super
I knew nothing about Chocolat except a few of its stars, the type of movie I thought it
was and what I wanted to get out of it.
I was disappointed on none of those levels. Perfectly executed and never extreme, Chocolat enters us into a fairy tale about people, beliefs,
morality, love and chocolate. As
the credits rolled, I couldn’t help but shake my head and smile,
thinking of how the movie was exactly what I’d hoped it would be and,
honestly, what I needed.
The movie
is idealistic in many ways, a fairy tale as I said, but so pleasantly and
innocently that you cannot help but forgive its almost childlike idealism
and positivity. Just like the
perfectly smooth and appealing hot chocolate poured out, the movie glides
thickly, warmly and pleasantly.
Chocolat
is a notable movie because there are so many noteworthy things in it.
I will give you a few examples, but nothing too detailed, because I
believe strongly that you should go in as ignorant of the film’s
specifics as possible.
The acting, I will say first, is superb.
Superb. This is one of the rare times when the term “All star
cast” is truly worth its usage. Every performance in the movie is
executed with such subtlety and grace that you can’t help but be engaged
in the movie. To pick out
just a few actors for comment cheats all the other great performances, but
I pray my knowledge of this transgression will be enough to gain
forgiveness as I dash headlong into it.
Dame Judi Dench (Shakespeare
in Love), always wonderful and thrilling, gives what might be my
favorite performance by her that I’ve seen.
Lena Olin (Romeo is Bleeding) is almost unrecognizable and brilliant, and
Carrie Anne-Moss (The Matrix) is
fantastic. Juliette Binoche (The
English Patient) is absolutely perfect as the shop owner and little
Victoire Thivisol who plays her daughter is perfect as well.
Peter Stormare (Fargo) is
very good, and Johnny Depp (What’s
Eating Gilbert Grape?) does a dead-on and never exaggerated Irish
brogue. Finally for
my sinfully short list, Alfred Molina (Not
Without My Daughter) is astounding as the small town mayor.
I have enjoyed few performances this year as much as I enjoyed his
in this film.
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Director Lasse Hallstrom (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?) not only did an excellent job
getting these already brilliant actors to go above and beyond, but also
captured a spirit perfectly that could so easily have fallen to either schmaltz
or soapbox. Throw in
the mix a beautiful and exciting score, a great script by Robert Nelson
Jacobs (The Shipping News) with many
interesting psychological and sociological questions and comments, a wonderfully passionate and understated romance, and you have a movie I
would be most pleased to see nominated for an Oscar.
Is this the
greatest and most important movie ever made?
No, not at all, but it is a pleasure to watch and a wonderful
escape to a world not too different from our own, but different enough
that we can truly rejoice in it. The movie is a celebration of life, humanity and passion, and
while many other movies have been made on this theme, this one seems to
capture them in a very unique and wonderful way.
I truly enjoyed
this movie.
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