Chocolat Reviews

There were a few reasons why I wanted to see Chocolat. I am all for sweet, heart-warming stories and I love Johnny Depp and Judi Dench. Upon viewing, Chocolat doesn't disappoint. The pacing sags slightly in the middle, but Chocolat is overall delightful and quite simply for me a delicious experience. The production values are exquisite- the cinematography is lovely, the scenery is breathtaking and the costumes are gorgeous. The music is also lovingly lyrical, and the script is both funny and touching and thankfully manages not to become too mushy or treacly. And the story is very heart-warming and compelling, with crisp direction from Lasse Hallstrom. Chocolat does also have a fine cast, Juliette Binoche is typically fine and Johnny Depp looking so handsome by the way is charming. Alfred Molina is great too, and while Judi Dench was very good I personally think her performances for Notes on a Scandal, Iris and Mrs Brown were better. In conclusion, excellent film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This has got Harvey Weinstein’s fingerprints all over it. What exactly do I mean by this? Well, there was a period of time when Miramax/Harvey Weinstein produced a never-ending parade of handsome adaptations of novels, some of them more prestigious than others, with vaguely respectable directors, and a series of talented international actors. Chocolat is a prime example of this type of film-making, both for good and bad.

 

Chocolat is pleasing enough when it operates at the level of confectionery fable, but falters whenever it strives for something deeper. It preaches a lovely message of tolerance, and gives several actresses ample room to strut their stuff. There’s not a lot to it, and its heavy sentimentality can grate towards the end, especially in a happy ending that just feels forced and hollow. There’s gradation here, we’re told explicitly throughout who is good and bad and where our sympathies must lie.  

 

Any and all enjoyment comes from a trio of performances. There’s Juliette Binoche as our heroine, who may or may not be a witch, a pagan demi-goddess, or merely a pagan priestess, it’s never entirely sure and her character is thinly written. But Binoche brings a tremendous amount of charm, incandescent star power, and serene ease to every scene. It’s no wonder that the small village falls under her powers, she casts a similar spell on the audience. While the movie tries to make its war between Christianity and paganism a source of dramatic tension, the mere presence of Binoche tilts the scales towards the old beliefs at every opportunity.

 

Supporting her are Judi Dench and Lena Olin, and both turn in very fine work. There’s a consistent problem with the non-French actors giving inconsistent accents, Carrie-Anne Moss is the worst offender while Johnny Depp is bizarrely doing a vaguely British one, but Dench and Olin manage to ground their performances in some truth and deeply felt emotions. Dench as an opinionated and hardened sounds like something she could do in her sleep, but Dench never slouches no matter what the material is. Olin as an eccentric, abused housewife who flowers under the maternal warmth and feminine support of Binoche and Dench. For me, Olin is the true best-in-show when it comes to the supporting players. She hits notes of grief and mania that are impressively wide and watchable. She’s an exposed nerve when others are merely play acting.

 

Chocolat is perfectly fine, safe and whimsical, designed less for artistry than to try and garner awards. Weinstein’s P.T. Barnum-esque showmanship has heralded many an empty but handsome film to prominence, and this one is no different. At least Chocolat offers a rare glimpse of Leslie Caron, and I do mean rare as she’s barely in it, and three great performances to engage you. It plays like a cheap store-bought holiday candy, you eat one, get a temporary high, and then move on to another and another and another.

I remember it quite well when this movie was released. Indeed, there was quite some buzz about it and it was even nominated for 5 Academy awards (it didn't win any after all). With all this and since I really loved 'What's eating Gilbert Grape', also directed by Lasse Hallstrom and starring Johnny Depp, I was really eager to check it out and I had some some rather high expectations about the damned thing. Eventually,  to be honest, I thought it was actually rather disappointing. I mean, it was not bad and the whole thing was really harmless, I'll give you that, but I just couldn't connect with this supposedly charming and whimsical tale. I don't know,  maybe it's because I'm French but it think I have never seen a more stereotypical French village before. I mean, except for Juliette Binoche who is obviously French,  every other actor seemed to come from somewhere else in the world which didn't have to be a problem but it had also an impact on their performances.  Indeed, on one hand, Binoche gave, as usual,  a very intense performance, clearly rising above this fluffy material, while all the other actors were far less convincing and they all seemed to belong to some average comedy creating some big clash concerning the tone. Still, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was a decent watch but I'm definitely not a big fan of this movie. 

When I heard of 'Chocolat', every time we talked about chocolate in French, I thought about the movie a lot! In the end, I watched 'Chocolat' and it was a great movie!

'Chocolat' is indeed sinfully delicious! This movie supplies different types of chocolate when Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) arrives in a town in France with her daughter and she opens a chocolate shop. Her chocolate changes the lives of the townspeople.

Juliette Binoche is joined by actors including Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina and Lena Olin who are all really good in it as well! 'Chocolat' is (probably) the most delicious movie of 2000 but not the best...

I was unsure what I was going to expect from Chocolat. When I saw it on DVD, I actually really liked it. It was a very cute, intelligent, charming and beautiful story. It was cute and charming because of the chocolates and other things involving chocolate. Besides chocolate, it was a beautiful film on love, friendship, loyalty and commitment. This was a very personal film to watch because Vianne wants her chocolate shop to suceed. You only have to look at the title to work out the subject of the film actually is. Despite how beautiful the film sounds and is, it is a rather depressing story. What I liked most about this film was because it was set in France and the actors all did fine jobs at portraying French characters apart from Juliette Binoche because she is French herself. It is very clear too because the director made it an emotional story not one about chocolate for kids like Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. Chocolat has an absolutely fantastic cast.


Juliette Binoche delivers a performance that truly is incredible. Juliette is really cute anyway but Vianne is a cute character to play and watch. Vianne is a single mother who looks after her young daughter. She opens a shop and when more customers come into the shop, she inadvertently ends up in one of their problems. Juliette seems that heartwarming caring type especially after seeing her Oscar winning performance in The English Patient which makes her in my opinion the perfect choice for Vianne. Now, Judi Dench, what I really love about her is that she always portrays hard, bitter and effective characters and she never disappoints. This one was a slightly softer character compared to Dench's other roles. Her performance as Armanda was very supportive, very persuasive to the character's attention and very powerful. I think Dench always takes acting and the characters she plays rather seriously just like the late Alec Guinness did. Johnny Depp, what can I say? This is the only film that he has been in that has been nominated for Best Picture. Johnny has always had that irresistable "awwww" within him his whole life but he shows it on a very high level here. The costumes he wears are really cool and made him seem like the charmer of France. When you see Johnny as Roux he brings together that life-force so to speak that all women have wanted to see him become. When I saw Roux playing the guitar, Johnny seemed almost like his normal self because he plays the guitar as well as acting.


Lasse Hallström directs this film to be half kids-half adults because of the emotional story and with the chocolate and comedy involved within. Well, we all know what kids are like with chocolat. The script was written from a novel so it made it a bit easier to get the hang on when writing the script and trying to get the audience's attention.


This was in a way quite lucky that it earned a Best Picture nomination. One thing that disappointed me was that it was very slow moving and I didn't get the ending. Juliette Binoche was fantastic but was better in The English Patient. Judi Dench did an awesome job too but liked her more in Notes On A Scandal, Casino Royale and Shakespeare In Love. Not one of Depp's best films but certainly one of his most charming characters. Chocolat is a really good film of 2000 that does deserve to be watched and seen for the viewing pleasure of the story and characters within it.

Not being a fan of Binoche *at all,* I was reluctant at seeing this at first, but having heard the delightful soundtrack, I went ahead, and was not disappointed.
Movies without guns and violence are so rare these days, they are difficult to appreciate when seen.

Wonderful performances by Molina, Binoche, Judi Dench and even Johnny Depp add credibility to this story. The chocolate seems sooo delicious, you want to be a guest of Vianne's shop to drink the thick hot chocolate and eat the delicate tasty chocolates.

Definitely the best drama of that year. Five full stars.
(And ten stars to the producers who have decided to produce this instead of a Rambo-type film.)