Chocolat (2000)

Directed by Lasse Hallström. Starring Juliette Binoche, Alfred Molina, Lena Olin, Johnny Depp, Victoire Thivisol, Peter Stormare, Judi Dench, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugh O’Connor, Hélène Cardona, Elisabeth Commelin, Antonio Gil, John Wood, Leslie Caron, Ron Cook, (voice) Tatyana Yassukovich. [PG-13]

An enigmatic wandering chocolatier (Binoche) settles in a traditionalist French village and opens up a shop. She has an immediate effect on the varied conservative townsfolk, much to the chagrin of a hardhearted few. A trifle of a film, often pleasant and unremarkable, and far too insubstantial to bear the weight of its sporadic attempts to plumb slightly darker depths (an abusive relationship between Olin and Stormare, Molina’s autocratic mayor battling temptation, etc.). Ultimately, it’s as rigidly recipe-concocted as the least palatable of chocolate confections, with hardly an organically believable moment in the entire script. Agreeable performances help, but not enough. Thivisol plays Binoche’s daughter, but her French accent was considered too impenetrable, so the voice is dubbed by Sally Taylor-Isherwood.

50/100