What's Cooking? (2000)

As much as I enjoy the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year I also secretly dread it too. It's a lot of work, what with the cooking and gift buying, making your own card or even just filling out store bought ones, the baking takes forever and the cleaning is a must so that relatives won't think you live in squalor... it's all so overwhelming to say the least. Then, as if that wasn't enough, add to that the family dysfunction that is also a large part of the holidays and it's enough to drive anyone insane, or at the very least, to sneak off for a few nips of something strong while no one is looking. It seems everyone has a crazy second Uncle who drinks too much and falls down, or a cousin who you suspect has some kind of arsenal in his basement and is teetering on the edge of sanity. Perhaps your family function isn't complete without "THE FAMILY FIGHT," you know, the fight by which all other fights pale in comparison. The fight that ends with relatives taking sides, and people holding your brother back from your cousins husband, lots of heated words and threats of violence, maybe someone, perhaps a neighbor has called the police and the kids are suddenly quiet and behaving for the first time all year. The dinner, the lovely dinner that everyone spent days planning, shopping and preparing for is suddenly dripping from the ceiling and walls after having been flung far and wide...oh yes, the dark underside of the holidays, ya gotta love them.

So, what's better than actually experiencing it first hand?

Why, watching a movie about someone else’s holiday misery of course. One of the most memorable movies of this genre, for me, has always been "Home For The Holidays" directed by Jodie Foster and starring Holly Hunter. Holly Hunter plays a single mother who is heading home for the long Thanksgiving weekend (and dreading it) just as her own life seems to be falling apart around her. She's lost her job, her teenage daughter (Claire Danes) informs her at the airport that she plans on losing her virginity while her Mother is away AND she feels the burden of heavy guilt for not wanting to go home to her family on this otherwise family oriented weekend. What follows is a sometimes funny, sad, and poignant movie on the subject of family loyalty, love and the holidays.

So, it was with certain eagerness for this type of movie combined with the cooking movie genre that I enjoy that I popped "What's Cooking?" into my dvd player the other day. I rented the movie because the blurb about it on Netflix seemed promising;

"What's Cooking?" is a rapt celebration of families braided from a comic collision of cultures. Gurinder Chadha peers behind the front doors of ordinary Los Angeleno houses to reveal the sweet and savory mix.

This customer review seemed promising;

This hidden gem, did not get the marketing it deserved when it opened briefly last Thanksgiving. I saw it opening night at the Sundance Film Festival with 2500 people, and they all loved it. Sometimes the best movies are the ones that get overlooked, and in this case...Whats Cooking is a surefire winner in all aspects. The cast is brilliant and all the actors give it their fullest for this modest independent flick. The Food Scenes were shot by Jong Lin who also shot the fabulous food scenes in "Eat Man Drink Woman" by Ang Lee, which I also Highly recommend. Everyone will relate to a certain family member, especially if you have ever experienced the craziness that takes place around the holidays. Asians, Latino, African-Americans, and Jewish families unite together in one of the best movies of the year! Don't let this one slip by, Do yourself a Favor, rent Whats Cooking! You are in for a real treat...but remember just eat a little something before hand...The Food Scenes will make you Ravenous!!!!

With all that promising hype, you’d think I was in for a reel treat (haha I made a pun), but, I thought the movie was just okay. I watched it through, and it held my attention but there were definite moments where I wanted to gouge my eyes out and plug my ears, some of the acting was really pretty bad and a bit too LOUD. As a food movie, it was a little better than okay, there are some really nice well shot cooking scenes and I liked the attention that was paid to showcasing how the different families added their unique cultural touches to the Thanksgiving meal. There are shots of spring rolls being rolled and noodles being cooked at the Vietnamese house, salsa being prepared and tamales being wrapped at the Mexican American house, shiitake mushroom stuffing and macaroni and cheese being made at the African American home and some hilarious and endearing shots of canned sweet potatoes being dumped into a baking dish and covered with mini marshmallows at the Jewish American household. The one food that was present at each household was a turkey, which sort of acted as a symbol of what unites us in our cultural differences on this typically American holiday. Most frightening food moment in the movie; Mercedes Ruehl leaves the turkey to thaw overnight on the counter with just a kitchen towel thrown over it. Um...isn't that breaking all kinds of hygiene rules and creating health code violations? Haven’t I read all my life that you're not supposed to let poultry, especially raw poultry EVER sit out for too long or get to room temperature, and certainly not OVERNIGHT? I know it was a movie, but after I saw that I was yelling "Don't eat the turkey" to the on screen family when they were gathered around the table for the meal. shudder

Also interesting, at least to me, was that each head of the family was a famous actress, while most of, (but not all) the cast were lesser known actors. The Avilas had the always fabulous Mercedes Ruehl, the Seeligs had the always entertaining Lainie Kazan, the Williamses had the incredible Alfre Woodard and the Nguyens had the beautiful Joan Chen, who I found it hard to believe was playing a woman old enough to have a son in college, but I guess that's just me being nitpicky. Most miscast character in the movie; Kyra Sedgwick as Lainie Kazan's daughter, I thought Julianna Margulies who plays Sedgwicks girlfriend was a better match to play Kazans daughter, but again I nitpick, and since I’m nitpicking, the most annoying character (to me) in the movie goes to Ann Weldon who plays Alfre Woodard's mother in law and who's over the top performance as the overly critical old woman with the CONSTANT scowl on her face was at first tolerable, then became unbearable and finally ended with being so cliché I wanted to throw things at the screen.

I found a pretty good and more accurate review of the movie at ReelViews if you're interested in reading a better written and more in-depth review than the one I give here. As for me, I'd like to give this 3 spoons because of the performances of some of the cast and the food shots, but sadly, as a whole, I think the movie is only worth 2 spoons.

Written by Deb on January 8, 2004 12:30 PM