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December 26, 2006

Chocolat - 6

A very slow moving, but good story about a small town in France that is changes and is changed by a Vianne (Juliette Binoche) and her daughter, Anouk (Victoire Thivisol), that open a chocolate boutique. The film does not try to be subtle in its set up of this entrance as anything but a challenge to the small town's morality, which is tightly controlled by the town founder Comte Paul de Reynaud (Alfred Molina). There is a minor love story, and the film gives you the moral before ending. Good supporting performances by Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Once you decide to stick through the slow developments of the plot a pretty good film (I tried watching this film a few years back, and only made it about 15 minutes in). This film just made a whole lot of sense now that I looked up the director Lasse Hallstrom- who also did What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (an excellent film), The Cider House Rules, The Shipping News, An Unfinished Life, and Casanova.

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