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Chocolat Customer Reviews (49 - 51 of 72 Reviews)

A Simple, Superb Confection
Lasse Hallstrom had the task of making a sweet, light-hearted, and affecting film from a story that delicately mined issues like morality, tolerance, and inclusion. Not the easiest of tasks but aided by the radiance of Juliette Binoche, he pulls it off brilliantly. Chocolat is like a fairy-tale, a gently told tale of a provincial French village in the 1950s and the clever north wind- in the form of Viane and her daughter Anouk, that stirs more than the leaves. Viane is fiercely independent but dispenses her advice and her help- in the form of chocolate- with understated grace. Viane's own life is complicated slightly by the arrival of a river gypsy in Johnny Depp who's freedom of spirit is akin to Viane's restlessness for movement. The story is perfectly-paced but its best asset are beautiful performances from the cast. Lena Olin, Judi Dench, and Depp all should have been contenders for Oscars, but it's Binoche who is unforgettable. The radiance of her smile alone adds a special charm. It's a shame that she wasn't given the Oscar but, as in Paltrow and Blanchett and few years before, the Academy went for sentiment over quality. Over all, an amazing, generous performance by Binoche and an all-around delightful film.

An excellent feel good movie
This movie had the potential to turn totally cheesy--a stranger from another place moves into town, opens a chocolate shop, people think she's crazy and bad, and then they all realize she's good and everyone gets happy.

What saves this from happening, however, are the performances turned in by Juliette Binoche, Alfred Molina, and Johnny Depp. You feel Binoche's restless spirit being pulled by the desire to provide a stable existence for her daughter. You feel Molina's pain with a wife that has left him, but still trying to keep it together with a tough exterior that turns the town against him. And who better than to epitomize the river gypsy than Johnny Depp?

This movie is like making chocolate: it takes some work in the beginning to get it going, but once it gets in the oven (stove? wherever you make chocolate) and the smells start to waft over you, it is delightful and pleasant right up through swallowing the last bit.

A Sweet Fantasy
A Fable for adults, this film could have been terrible if placed in the wrong hands. Thank goodness that Lasse Hallstrom directed it. He is abetted by a fantastic cast, possibly the best ensemble this year. Juliette Binoche is exquisite, an actress of subtle power and great beauty; she has quietly become one of the great icons in modern films( although most of her films are French. I feel sorry for those who don't like subtitles, you're missing out!) Don't be surprised if she manages to best Julia Roberts at the Oscars. Judi Dench , Lena Olin, and Alfred Molina are all very good. The little girl is played by Victoire Thisovol, who wowed the critics a few years back in Ponette(is she the next Binoche?) OK, Johnny Depp isn't exactly convincing as an Irish Gypsy, but he has great charisma, and he and Binoche have good chemistry.

This movie is not really an important one, or nesessarily a great work of art, but it is an extemely entertaining film. Don't miss it.

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