Review of Chocolat (2000) by Ben L — 18 Sep 2016

A small, highly-conservative village receives a new visitor who opens a chocolate shop and refuses to live up to their moralistic standards. She is one part Pollyanna and one part Mary Poppins, which is an interesting combo and at first I was intrigued.

I loved the magical nature of her talents and the way that she was able to sweeten people's lives through the power of chocolate. The growth of the townsfolk, and how the candy (and candy maker) impacted them was so much fun.

Then somewhere along the way it was as if the magic was sucked out of the movie. Vianne became an average crappy mother who drags her child from place to place, because of some strange superstition or curse that I didn't fully understand.

She started to get discouraged, and even her "magical" powers diminished. The premise was so strong in the beginning, but it spiraled downhill for a significant portion of the film before course-correcting right at the end.

The film includes a ton of glamour shots of chocolate candy-making, so be warned your appetite will be increased when watching Chocolat. Despite the flaws, it's a cute movie, and would probably be as comforting as a warm cup of cocoa, but it loses the magic touch that I thought made it great in the first half.