Like Water for Chocolate (1992)

Directed by Alfonso Arau. Starring Lumi Cavazos, Marco Leonardi, Regina Torné, Yareli Aizmendi, Mario Iván Martínez, Claudette Maillé, Ada Carrasco, Pilar Aranda, Joaquín Garrido, Rodolfo Arias, Sandra Arau, Margarita Isabel, Farnesio de Bernal. [R]

Because of family tradition, Torné’s youngest daughter, Tita (Cavazos), is forbidden to marry, even though she is in love with Leonardi, who marries her older sister just so he can stay close. Meanwhile, Tita’s powerful heartache and passions become infused into the food she makes, inspiring profound (and profoundly peculiar) emotions to swell within those who feast. Many found this magical-realism fable of sensual yearning to be a piquant delight, but because of the overbaked nature of the melodrama, it ends up more silly than swoony; it’s hard to tell how much of the laughter it motivates is intentional, but at least one would be hard-pressed to label the story as drab or predictable. Acting is uneven, but newcomer Cavazos has an unforced charm that doesn’t rely on glamour. Based on the same-named novel by Lara Esquival. At one time, the most financially-successful foreign-language film in the U.S., but avoid the shortened and dubbed cut that infiltrated the American market.

65/100