I wanted so much to say many fabulous things about this movie. I read the synopsis of the movie on Netflix before putting it in my queue and renting it, knowing that I might be disappointed. I even read the not so happy member reviews and yet I still rented the movie because I wanted to give it a fair chance. This wasn't a bad movie, it's just that I've seen it before, and done so much better, as Eat Drink Man Woman.
Widower Martin Naranjo (Hector Elizondo) is a Los Angeles restaurateur with a booming business and three headstrong daughters (Jacqueline Obradors, Tamara Mello and Elizabeth Pena) all on the verge of leaving the house to pursue their individual destinies. He knows he must let go, but things get even more complicated when brassy neighbor Hortensia (Raquel Welch) sets her sights on Martin.
Starring: Hector Elizondo, Jacqueline Obradors, More
Director: Maria Ripoll
Category: Comedy
Format: Widescreen, More
Language: English, More
Subtitles: English, More
PG 13: For sexual content
The two movies couldn't be more similar. I think Tortilla Soup may have been intended as an American remake because I did catch that it was based on a screenplay by Ang Lee when I was watching the credits. But why remake a movie that was so well done to begin with and within 7 years of the first one? I don't understand, especially because I think this one went straight to video. Hmmm, or maybe I do under$tand
The film wasn't a total wash, I have always liked Hector Elizondo and while I think he was a little restrained with his acting, his character sort of wooden, I thought he did ok as the father (Martin) in this movie. Truly standing out for me was Elizabeth Peņa who I thought did an excellent job playing the older sister Leticia, a devoutly religious, heading towards becoming an old maid school teacher, who decides to act on her feelings for another teacher after she mistakes some secret love notes to be from him. I've never been a fan of Raquel Welch's acting, hey, I think she looks fantastic for a women in her late sixties, (she paid good money for it, she should look great), but her acting has never appealed to me. In the movie she plays Hortensia the mother of a friend of the girls. I thought she played her part a little too over the top, bordering on psycho and quite frankly a little annoying. Maybe that means she did a good job and her acting is just something I, a mere mortal, cannot understand. Whatever it was, whenever she was on screen it was like fingernails on the blackboard for me. Paul Rodriquez played Orlando to Peņa's Leticia and I couldn't help but feel that this usually funny, stand-up comedian was trying so hard to hold back the laughter and the jokes. I found his attempt at serious acting to be sincere, a funny man trying to play the straight guy with every single ounce of his being, it was kind of endearing.
After my initial disappointment with the movie, (it really is almost an exact copy of EDMW), I continued watching just for the food. As far as cooking movies go, there was a little less cooking than I would have liked to see, but still enough to satisfy my desire to watch someone else prepare meals in a seductive and mouthwatering way. When I say seductive here, I mean in that way that's fascinating to watch, like "oh, so that's how you make a basting brush from banana leaves" or "ha, no wonder my guacamole isn't so great, I never add enough lime." I don't mean in the food porn type of way that seems to be popular on cable food channels these days. You know those shows right, the ones with the unshaved just rolled out of bed looking guys with pan juices slowly dripping down their arms and butter glistening on their lips. Then there are the shows with the perfectly coiffed ladies, dressed to kill, cooking without an apron and the close-up shots of their heaving bosoms as they breathlessy chop onions, or the slow motion camera action as they bring a plump morsel up to their pouting lips for a taste. Those shows get on my nerves, but I digress.
The movie had lovely shots of fish steaming on the grill, salsa being made in a molcajete, tomatoes being sliced for Pico de Gallo, eggs being vigorously beaten with sugar for a flan and so on. The dishes, once they were at the table, were gorgeous presentations and quite appetizing. Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger of Two Hot Tamales fame and the owners of the restaurant Border Grill in Los Angeles were the food consultants for the movie. I think, I could have even forgiven the movie for it's flaws had there been more cooking and more showcasing of the meals. You know, less dialogue and more close up shots of food being chopped, diced and sliced, fried, boiled and roasted, whipped, beaten and kneaded, that, would have won me over. heh
I wanted so much to like this film and really, I tried my best to watch it without constantly comparing it, but it was so similar to Eat Drink Man Woman that I found it very hard not to, and sadly, this one lost. 
Additional movies with Hector Elizondo:
Additional movies with Elizabeth Peņa:
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