Lasse Hallstrom’s Chocolat seemed to have the odds stacked against it in my mind. Running right off of the success of Hallstrom’s previous work, The Cider House Rules, the world immediately got wind that he’d already chosen his next project and it would be out within the year. A dubious move, if I may say. Those prepackaged, Oscar-expectants nearly always fall flat, or at least leave the audience with a sour taste in their mouths, which makes sense because you know the director rushed to put it out in order to fully capitalize on name value. Another example of this is a film like Pay It Forward, which hoped- but horribly failed- to win audiences with a cast that included very-recent Oscar favorites Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment. I'm surprised they didn’t hand out “for your consideration” pamphlets with every ticket sold. I'm pleased to report, though, that Chocolat is a welcome break in this pattern of clunkers. The film pleasantly goes down as smoothly as the sweet confection from which it takes its title. Whether or not it deserves all of the accolades now bestowed upon it in the Oscar race is another matter for debate, however, Chocolat is a very enjoyable film. (In my opinion, I think perhaps the best picture nomination was going a little far.)
Reteaming with Johnny Depp (formerly in his excellent What’s Eating Gilbert Grape), Hallstrom assembled a top-notch cast for this seemingly hasty project. I wanted to jump up and clap loudly during the opening credits sequence when Alfred Molina’s name(!) and then Peter Stormare’s(!) appeared across the screen. Other members of this ensemble include Lena Olin (also with Depp in The Ninth Gate- *yuk*), Dame Judi Dench, Carrie-Anne Moss and, of course, Juliette Binoche.
The story is relatively simple and is told through sporadic narration as a fairy tale of what the North Wind restlessly blows through a quaint French village in 1959. In this case, the North Wind has blown in Juliette Binoche and her young daughter who proceed to turn things upside down for the ultra-religious/conservative residents. Right before Lent of all times, this strange new woman (who doesn’t go to church!! gasp!!) with her unconventional charm and age-old recipes opens a chocolate shop. This may sound familiar as it is the bare plot of many, many movies concerning the principle of outcasts and others with any varying number of guises from race to gender to this harmless tale about chocolate. Also reminiscent of character-shows-up-and-changes-everything movies like Pleasantville (also a racism allegory), Mary Poppins, Mrs. Doubtfire, and even Boogie Nights. Johnny Depp enters to further cement this message as the captain of a gang of river drifters, considered subhuman filth by the people of the town, except for Binoche, of course. The foil for all of this hate is the Mayor played wonderfully by Alfred Molina (read my Boogie Nights review for further praise of Molina). The end of a long line of Counts who have run all intruders out of the town since the beginning of time, the Mayor commands the Church-centered cove with an iron, yet envious fist. Get it: he hates what he cannot understand, but- as a man of honor- secretly wants to. Hence, Juliette Binoche- and then Depp and his river rats- are new public enemies, which he must quash before he wets himself and the whole place is corrupted. Judi Dench is the old woman who rents Juliette her shop space. She is like the elder Juliette in a way because she also refuses to adhere to mores of the town, which include shipping her off to a nearby nursing home. Consequently, her daughter (Carrie-Anne Moss) refuses to speak with her and has cut her off from contact with her grandchild because she would be a bad influence. Moss, by the way, is horrible, the worst part of the movie. So promising in The Matrix, I'm afraid this film may be a better indicator of her acting skills. Unfortunate, it’s embarrassing. Other characters like Lena Olin, who becomes Juliette’s employee of sorts, help flesh out the anonymous town of curmudgeons and are all generally delightful as they are each touched by the magical chocolate- chocolate being representative of progressive thought, of course. The heart of the film is truly in Binoche who carries the picture beautifully. She is a real pleasure to watch and very easy on the eyes in a classical way, which seems to fit this film’s aesthetic. Similarly, you can see that twinkle in her eye that grows bright with mischief. Perfectly cast, I say, and fully deserving of her Oscar nomination. Binoche is a former Oscar winner for The English Patient (which many considered stolen from heartbroken Lauren Bacall) and the soul of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colors Trilogy.
I found it sometimes disorienting how the dialogue was very familiar and colloquial in contrast to the lush and very Old World settings. The people you would think- like the town- had not changed since the turn of the century. While in more humorous moments this rings true, it nevertheless seemed odd having Judi Dench rattle off words like “piss” and having a young priest singing Elvis’s “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog.” Although, this is kind of the point of the movie, too. This is a movie about change, you know. Overall the film is a pleasure. Rolling smoothly between Juliette and Alfred Molina’s plotting/frustrated priest, this is really a thoughtful comedy for the romantic set. The film sadly falters for about twenty minutes towards the end when attacking the us-vs-them social message, which I mentioned earlier. You’ll see what I mean- between a fire and a freakout, though I won’t say whose in either case, the movie betrays its own tone and grows unnecessarily dark. However, I would not say it is without a smile on my face that I left the theatre. And, indeed, the audience I saw it with was extremely receptive. You will enjoy this movie. It’s lighthearted and endearing and generally harmless. Again, Best Picture material(?), that’s debatable, but still a great film to see on a weekend afternoon. One taste is all it takes.
By Dan
$8.50/$10.00 |
