Chocolat, Part of my reviews for the 2001 Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees

Chocolat (2000)

Chocolat is a romantic drama directed by  Lasse Hallström who brought us What’s eating Gilbert Grape, The Cider House Rules and Dear John. As well as every ABBA music video.

Vivian Rocher (Juliette Binoche)  Anouk  (Victoire Thivisol) are a nomadic mother and daughter that arrive into a rural French village as a “sly wind swept in from the north” and has the audacity  to  set up a chocolate shop over the period of lent (much to the disgust of the village priest and mayor) and even opens on Sundays. The mayor vows to be rid of her but many of the locals are happy to partake in her wares as she instinctively knows what people want and need both in their sweets and their personal lives. She goes about cheering up this dreary village one chocolate at a time.

There is quite an ensemble cast on display here. Along with Binoche, Alfred Molina, Carrie Ann Moss, Peter Stormare, Johnny Depp and Judi Dench are the ones I’ll quickly talk about.

There seemed to be some mis-casting here for me. Binoche was ok but no more than that, I didn’t feel too much for the character of Vivian and if anything she came across a bit like Leland Gaunt from Stephen King’s Needful Things which I’m sure wasn’t the plan. Depp looked massively uncomfortable as the Irish “river rat” Roux that finds his way into town, and Vivian’s heart. His accent was poor as was the chemistry between him and Binoche. Proof, if proof is needed, that you don’t just cast someone because they are running hot at the time. I enjoyed Carrie Ann Moss and Peter Stormare in this film. Both seemed to be happy in their roles as their acting talents were put to the test. Alfred Molina as the God-fearing Mayor was a good fit for me and I enjoyed the (hopefully intentional) over acting of most of his scenes. But the tip of the cap goes to Judie Dench. She was brilliant as the crotchety landlady, who after tasting Vivian’s hot chocolate starts to look on the lighter side of life for the first time in decades.

I enjoyed this movie but while the direction and look of this film was of a high quality it did seem like a blatant Oscar grab. Take a well received book, add some of Academy’s favourite actors and an arty director, throw in a french town and see what comes out. 5 nominations is the answer.

For me, it’s probably better than an average Sunday night movie but not by a massive margin.