2000: A Semi-Defense of “Chocolat”
Thursday, May 13, 2021 at 8:34PM In preparation for the next Smackdown Team Experience is traveling back to 2000.
By Ben Miller
The 2000 Best Picture lineup features a blockbuster swords-and-sandals crowd-pleaser, a star vehicle about corporate evil, an ensemble on the war on drugs, and an epic martial arts foreign language film. Those four films are unassailable in this lineup, but then there’s the fifth film: Lasse Hallstrom’s romantic dramedy Chocolat. The film’s legacy is more entrenched in controversy; as its nominations are attributed to shameless Oscar campaigning by Miramax and Harvey Weinstein. But is it the terrible, no-good, very bad film its reputation has made it out to be? The short answer is no, but the long answer is a bit more nuanced...
The film stars Juliette Binoche as a wandering chocolatier who lands in a conservative religious French village to open up a chocolate shop, right at the beginning of Lent. She runs afoul of the local mayor (Alfred Molina) while befriending her landlady (Judi Dench), an abused woman (Lena Olin) and a band of river nomads led by Johnny Depp.
The film is presented as a light-hearted comedy with relatively low stakes. The mayor is the main person who wants to get rid of Binoche’s Vianne, and that is mostly through political and societal pressure. But, Vianne’s charm and hospitality ingrain her to the townspeople. Dench’s character is estranged from her daughter (Carrie Anne Moss), but her relationship with her grandson bridges that gap in little time. A subplot involving domestic abuse ends with a bonk on the head with a frying pan, and laughter. Hallstrom and screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs could have gone deeper on any number of topics they address but they fall well short of making any impact. Even when things get dark, a humorous tone takes over and brightens up the shadows.
Binochete is a warm delight. The French actress is such a unique talent and fine dramatic actress that you can forget how much of a luminous movie-star presence she can be. She doesn’t do much shouting or grand proclamations, and she doesn’t skew to overly quirky or off-the-wall. Vianne is a lovely woman who treats people with kindness and never judges, and Binoche underplays the part to perfection. Her voice stays a slight level above a whisper and sets the audience at ease whenever she is on screen, which is quite often.
Nathaniel tells us that Judi Dench and Lena Olin get plenty of discussion time in next week's Smackdown so let's skip passed them for now.
Johnny Depp plays a dreamy long-haired river pirate with an Irish accent by-way-of Florida. He plays the guitar far more often than you would expect and does little more than be pretty and kind to children. He was still be three years away from superstardom Pirates of the Caribbean, but the breadcrumbs are there.
And finally there's... Alfred Molina. Let me preface this by saying I enjoy Molina in almost everything and the fact that he has no Oscar nominations is criminal That being said, his character Reynaud brings the film to a screeching halt each time he appears, which is frequently. It feels appropriate that Molina played Snidley Whiplash in Dudley Do-Right the year before because his role is almost entirely scheming and twirling his mustache. His character’s adherence to tradition and morality is shown as thinly veiled compensation and his clashes with Vianne are unnecessary and cruel.
21 YEAR OLD SPOILERS
The film’s climax centers around Reynaud reaching the end of his rope and asking God for help in quelling Vianne’s sweet temptations. He goes to Vianne’s shop with a knife and begins chopping away at her confections when a bit of chocolate lands on his lips. Reynaud gives in and begins to sprawl out on the chocolate display and devours every piece he can before he begins to cry and falls asleep. For the life of me, I cannot tell what Hallstrom was going for in this scene. He might have been trying to go over the top with comedy, or maybe it was supposed to be pathetic, but whatever he was going for, it's just painfully awkward. And it's the climax! The next morning, Vianne finds Reynaud, everyone agrees that everyone is cool with each other and the film essentially ends.
Hindsight being what it is, the Miramax/Weinstein of it all feels all the ickier when it comes to the film’s five Oscar nominations. Still, the film was popular with audiences, earning over $71 million domestically, despite never making more than $6 million a weekend; it stayed in theaters for seven months! Out of context of the Oscar race and notions of "best" Chocolat is arguably a delightful, middle-of-the-day movie you can watch with your grandparents, awkward climax aside. And who would want to deny Juliette Binoche a chance to shine?
When was the last time you saw Chocolat?
Alfred Molina, Chocolat, Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche, Oscars (00)
Reader Comments (35)
No matter the quality of the movie (I've seen worse BEST PICTURE WINNERS) it's great that Binoche got another nom. Even though it's surely not one of her finest performances...
Now THIS is Juliette’s once in a lifetime Hollywood movie star project.
Oh, I was dreaming of more Lena Olin! She's such an amazingly underappreciated actress.
To me the movie is not good, nor bad.
It's as you said "a delightful middle-of-the-day movie".
And I LOVE Rachel Portman's score!
Lena Olin is the best thing in the film.
Lena Olin should get her own article in ROMEO IS BLEEDING. She was friggin awesome in that!
It it impossible not to be mad at this movie for taking five very coveted slots in a year with great movies with 2-3 nominations.
Aw, I love that moment when Reynaud gets a taste of the chocolate. I found it to be moving. I was only 20 when the movie arrived on the TV but I actually cried. I felt like all of those years of being this ignorant curmudgeon crone made him so unhappy that he realized how wrong he was and the chocolate started to bring joy to him. Of course, he apologizes to Vianne and wants to make it right for her.
I think this is the kind of film where if you're a guy and you want to watch something sensitive and kind-hearted with some wit with a woman. This is the film to watch. It will make the woman realize that underneath the "blow me", "eat shit" persona is a sensitive person waiting to come out.
I loved this movie in 2000 due to its anti-religion message. But 21 years late it fell flat. The charms of Juliette Binoche and the food porn are what make this watchable today.
My response was roughly the same as yours -- I remember, as the movie ended, thinking, I have nothing against this movie...as long as it doesn't get nominated for best picture. I was by then alert to Weinstein-ism, and knew he'd try to steal a spot with this. Alas, he was successful, getting the best picture nod over Almost Famous, which had been DGA/PGA-nominated (and was my favorite movie of the year).
I don't hate the movie because I can agree it's not outright terrible I just found it terribly boring and flat and watching it a second time in prep for the smackdown was certainly not a preferable way to spend my time.
I guess I enjoy Binoche being a two time Oscar nominee but she has delivered so many better performances in the decades before and since this nomination.
I look forward to what the panel has to say when discussing Dench who is like the film a blah choice for me if you were gonna pick only one of the ladies of the film to nominate. Man Lena Olin is deserving of such a better career. The performance she gave in Unbearable Lightness of Being (also co-starring Binoche) is simply extraordinary and my easy choice for the years best supporting actress.
Lena Olin was best in 89's Enemies A love Story and in the recent Riviera series.
Definitely no BP material, but I love it anyway. Maybe the score was the only deserved nomination, but, as said, it’s Binoche 2nd, so I’m OK with this fact. Also, the cast is amazing (except for Depp). Lena Olin should have been nominated instead of lovely Dench, and Carrie-Anne Moss, Alfred Molina and Victoire Thivisol all had good moments.
It's my preference among the five BP nominees.
I agree with what seems to be the consensus here: it’s not a bad movie, it just had no business being nominated for Best Picture that year. Under the current system of up to 10 nominees, I don’t think it would have gotten as much hate since Billy Elliott and Almost Famous would surely have been nominated and we never would have known that Chocolat was in the top 5. But yeah, the blatant Weinstein-ism of it all felt icky at the time and feels even ickier in retrospect.
I also can’t believe Judi Dench WON the SAG award that year for this performance. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a BAD performance, but...come on. Was Hollywood really that apologetic about not giving her the Oscar for Mrs. Brown?
Here for the CHOCOLAT love.
This film always works for me until Depp's arrival. He's supremely unattractive here (his gen-x unwashed charms have never suited me), and I don't think his performance ever works. Binoche really tries to sell it, but it just doesn't land.
I tend to think of this film as one with a title that's far more fun to say than to actually sit through. Even though, I've seen it twice, it's not one I really need to see again.
This movie is another example of a film that, had it not been nominated for Oscars, all would have been fine. No one would mind it. It's a perfectly fine little bauble. But it's another reminder of the sham the awards too often become, of the academy issuing accolades for undeserving work over work that would actually deserve it.
I enjoy Chocolat. It's just a silly little almost-fairy tale and doesn't pretend to be anything else.
When Harvey Weinstein was Oscar Manipulator of the 2000 campaign season, I remember him trolling out Rev. Jesse Jackson who endorsed the movie because it was about 'tolerance.'
The problems with Chocolat's nomination are: Billy Elliot, Almost Famous, Wonder Boys, and You Can Count On Me.
@Raul: Hear hear! Ok, I'm not the *biggest* fan of Almost Famous, but even it and all the others are more worthy than Chocolat.
I don't understand the surprise at the Best Picture nomination. It's the kind of sentimental product that studios have produced their entire lives and audiences have always loved it. And still do. A good film elevated by its irresistible protagonist and the actress who plays her (both seem to have fun all the time), the excellent cast plus the production values.
Fell in love with Juliette Binoche because of Chocolat and the feeling goes on and on and on. 🎻 🎶 🎶 🎶
I was on a really good date for this movie, so I have some nostalgic love for it (even if that relationship slowly died).
But I also remember walking out of "Gladiator" thinking this was a good start to the Summer Movie Season, not that I had just watched that year's Best Picture. An odd year.
This movie has a 7.2 IMDB score so I think its wretchedness is being overstated just a tad, no?
I liked Chocolat back then. Haven't revisited the film since. However, I remember liking it more than Gladatiator.
This movie is actually decent, even enjoyable at times, but thanks to W*instein's nasty awards tactics, its reputation has been tainted as cheap Oscar bait
The score really is fantastic
Honestly, I don't remember much about Chocolat aside from it's bizarre oscar nominations - I remember it being a sweet movie, that I took my grandmother to see it - I remember her loving it. I remember enjoying it as well. I also remember being the youngest person in the theatre, by about 50 years! This would never get nominated today - this was a sure sign of the power of Weinstein!
It was slightly cloying when I first saw it (probably right after it was nominated), and even more so when I re-watched it this past year. I remember thinking that Johnny Depp’s character didn’t work for me at all, but I’m sure it was very instrumental in his transition to the mainstream.
I’ve been thinking about Alfred Molina ever since Promising Young Woman, which you could pair with Boogie Nights in his filmography. I know he has the goods, but he hams it up a lot.
I saw Chocolat about 5 years ago. And then because someone highly recommended it. I found the movie enchanting, and a large part of that was Juliette Binoche's acting. I don't remember Dame Dench very well, and certainly don't remember Lena Olin, which is odd because I loved her so much in Enemies A Love Story.
There are a lot worse movies, for sure, and if it was my only option in a snowed in cabin or a transatlantic flight, I'd probably watch it again. Still, this is the apotheosis of Miramax mediocrity of the 1990s-early aughts. The fact that movies like this, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, IL POSTINO, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, FINDING NEVERLAND, etc. got attention and nominations/awards that other films should have gotten is sad. I'm glad that kind of middlebrow Oscar bait is all but gone, give or take a GREEN BOOK or two.
I love Juliette Binoche as much as the next, but her nomination should’ve been Bjork’s.
Much like Being Julia, this is a cheesecake movie: it’s not terribly good for you over long periods of time, but every time you treat yourself after extended periods of staying away, it proves to be an enormously satisfying bite.
As long as you don’t dwell on the calorie intake. ;)
I unabashedly love it, and it absolutely knows what it is, also like Being Julia. Shoot, Rachel Portman’s score may actually be the score MOST in tandem with its film that year: the main theme, in particular, captures the spirit of the movie immaculately.
It comes, leaves you feeling lovely, and then drifts away as easily as it came.
Lena Olin as MVP, though, right? Second time she takes the film from right under Binoche’s nose, albeit, not to an Oscar nomination, sadly. ;)