Chocolate apparently is what makes the world go round, or so director Lasse
Hallström tries to convince audiences with his latest cinematic endeavor,
"Chocolat" (IMDb listing).
It is the story of Vianne Rochert (Juliette Binoche) and her young daughter
Anouk (Victoire Thivisol), who arrive in a small, drab French town in the
winter of 1959 and open a chocolaterie (a gourmet chocolate shop). Here
Vianne sells any number of delectable chocolate concoctions, including the
house specialty: Hot chocolate with a dash of chili pepper and a spoonful of
whipped cream, prepared from a 3,000-year-old Mayan recipe and supposed to
bring out a person's most secret dreams and desires. Vianne, Anouk, and the
chocolaterie quickly stir up the uneventful lives of the townspeople, and
become a nuisance in the eyes of the town's equivalent of a mayor,
the Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina). The Comte maintains order by instilling a constant
fear of God and need for repentance in the citizens of his town. Vianne's unconventionally forward
manner in dealing with her customers, her polite refusal to participate in
Sunday mass, and the fact that on the first day of lent she begins to sell
indulgence incarnate, does not bode well in the Comte's estimation and he is
determined to put a stop to the chocolate-covered corruption.
The premise of "Chocolat" is promising, and Swedish-born Hallström, who has credits such as the appealingly unusual "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"
and "Cider House Rules," creates a beautiful framework with
carefully designed and purposefully used visuals and a rousing soundtrack.
But the story takes predictable turns,
relies heavily on well-known movie clichés, and follows too many subplots,
failing to fully explore any of them and neglecting to tie them together in
a logical way.
There are glimpses of many great performances in "Chocolat," most notably
Binoche and Johnny Depp as Roux, an Irishman and self-proclaimed river rat
who lives with his people on a boat, moving from one place to the next. Judi Dench is
equally impressive as Amande Voizin, Vianne's landlady and a diabetic with a
penchant for the hot chili pepper chocolate. Lena Olin's Josephine
Muscat goes through a rather odd transformation from town nutcase to
battered wife to chocolatier par excellence. But again Hallström stanches
the film's potential. He doesn't allow any character enough screen time to
deliver a full-fledged, well-rounded performance. The ending is unsatisfactory because when the credits roll it is rather unclear how the
plot got there. The viewer is left with the distinct impression that
everything was resolved just by eating massive amounts of chocolate.
"Chocolat" is enjoyable entertainment for longtime Depp fans (only patient
ones though, since he doesn't appear until the second half of the movie) who
have come to love his knack for picking roles for the appeal of the
character and independent of the project's bankability. Likewise, fans of
Binoche will see the hint of a mature actress whose range could have been developed if guided by the right director. But this movie will not appeal to a general audience looking to spend an enjoyable couple of hours with popcorn and a soft drink. The story is disjointed. Watching it is a painstaking effort to connect hundreds of pieces in a jumbled puzzle.
Filmfodder Grade: C
