Ok, so it has to be said, I tend to be really behind the times on things like movies. I don’t actually recall specifically the last time I went to see a movie in a cinema. The last one I remember was Shakespeare In Love, back in 1998. I’m sure I have been since then, but I can’t remember what I saw. I suspect the most recent visit to the movies may have been The Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher and I remember being surprised at how good his acting was in that movie. But everyone has their own opinions on actors and what is good acting. But he is awfully cute, too.

I recently was flicking around on a rainy afternoon and I found myself watching The Guardian – a movie I had previously dismissed for two reasons – Kevin Costner, and it was a long movie. I’ve had bad experiences with a Kevin Costner & Long Movie combination in the past (haven’t we all?) but on this occasion two events occurred to make me watch it – the fact that it was just beginning, and the fact that absolutely nothing else was on and it was raining so going anywhere wasn’t really an option.

Then I discovered that Dulé Hill was in it, and I was sold, though his role wasn’t as big as I would have liked. The movie was excellent. I really enjoyed it, and Kevin Costner was finally redeemed from all those terribly bad movies like Dances with Wolves and Waterworld.

Plus Kevin was looking pretty darned cute. Almost as cute as in The Bodyguard. The ending of those movie was absolutely stunning and very unexpected, reading the trivia on IMDB there was a different ending filmed but the one they went with hits like a tonne of bricks. Seriously. If you haven’t seen it but you’re looking for something to watch, this might be a good choice. I especially enjoyed a lot of the Coast Guard training aspects, it was very interesting.

Any movie with Johnny Depp in it deserves watching over and over, wouldn’t we agree ladies? ;) Combine him with something else we ladies enjoy – chocolate – and this film is a winner even before you unwrap the shrink wrap from the DVD. But this one is special for reasons other than Johnny Depp and many stunning images of chocolate.

My advice to you if you’re going to watch this film – make sure you have some chocolate in the fridge, because this one will make you hungry for it. Lindt is my preference, but to each their own. Now there is a book this movie is based on, however if you have read the book you will be a little unhappy because the movie does not quite resemble the book. Even so, the movie makes up for that, I think. So, let us get into what I love about Chocolat.

1. The way all the characters are connected to each other in some way, the sense of community. It’s difficult to describe but to me there is a real sense that the villagers have all known each other for centuries. A difficult thing to achieve when you’re putting together a movie and in other movies it often feels forced, or not real. Not this one. Delightful.

2. The music. Haunting without taking away from the movie itself. It’s not until after you watch it when you try to sleep that you’ll find it playing in your head. I find it usually lasts for a good couple of days after watching this one. Unusual, for a movie soundtrack.

3. The story. Good VS bad, Church VS Chocolaterie, moral VS immoral, there is so much here to see. A very well put together tale.

4. The costumes. Many of the villagers wear dowdy clothes in dull colors and Vianne the immoral chocolate maker is a vision in bright colors. Even when wearing dark blue, they gave her red shoes. Those who have been reading the blog for a while know that I love to look at shoes, especially high heels. I don’t like to wear them but I like to look at them, and there are times in this movie when Vianne’s shoes distract me from the chocolate.

5. The food. Wow, it all looks so good!

Plus, The entire cast is fantastic – some of my favourites include –

Dame Judi Dench as Armande Voizin – A wonderful performance.

Aurelien Parent Koenig as Luc Clairmont – Armande’s Grandson. What a start to a career to work so closely with Dame Judi Dench. The relationship between them on screen is lovely to watch. A sight for sore eyes in a time of action movies and too many special effects.

Alfred Molina as Comte Paul de Reynaud. Every movie needs a bad guy, and he makes a brilliant one.

Carrie-Anne Moss as Caroline Clairmont. Does she look familiar? Her role in the movie previous to this was in The Matrix. I’m glad she chose this role right after it because such a strong role as Trinity was you run the risk of being “stereotyped”.

Hugh O’Conor as Pere Henri. He is absolutely perfect as the young priest trying to walk a fine line between Church and Chocolaterie.

John Wood as Guillaume Blerot and Leslie Caron as Madame Audel. Again just lovely to watch.

Lena Olin as Josephine Muscat, who makes quite the transformation during the movie.

Victoire Thivisol as Anouk Rocher – a big role for a young girl but she is awesome in it.

Juliette Binoche as Vianne Rocher and she is captivating, curvaceous, delightful and something is going on with her hair that will make you wish you had a big set of hair rollers. Men reading this, you will enjoy watching her I’m sure while we ladies enjoy…..

Johnny Depp as Roux who also has something going on with his hair, but then when doesn’t he? ;)

I can truly say this is one of my favorite films. If you have not seen it, you might want to look out for it on DVD. You won’t regret it.

If you enjoyed this review, you might also enjoy these other reviews.

Pump Up The Volume
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
The Pirate Movie
Chocolat
Shakespeare In Love
Dead Poets Society

Originally released in Australia in July 1989, this movie became much loved by English teachers, who would play it in order to inspire their students – and it worked. Many Aussies are not aware that it was directed by an Australian director – Peter Weir.

Dead Poets Society had many messages within it but probably the most well known one is Carpe Diem – Seize The Day.

To me the deeper message was about people trying to push you down a path you do not want to go down. All these kids sent to boarding school by their parents with their entire lives mapped out in front of them, everything riding on how well they do in school, high expectations being placed on people without ever asking the kid – what do you want from your life? What do you want to do, what career do you want?

This message came at the same time that important decisions about my own future were being made. In the school system I was in, you could either go the “mainstream” way which was a path designed towards you studying maths 1, maths 2, physics, chemistry and biology in Year 12, or you could go towards music, drama, photography, home economics, latin, languages, the types of creative things which I felt drawn towards. I had a maths teacher who really saw potential in me but my potential was not maths related. In fact I hated maths, and he recommended to me and my parents that I steer well clear of the subject. I’m very grateful to him for that.

Reasons why I love this movie.

1. Robert Sean Leonard as Neil. His performance in this role is incredible. I really don’t have the words to describe the brilliance of it.

2. Ethan Hawke – This was his third movie ever, and certainly the one which provided a launching pad to his later career.

3. The boys – some incredible performances from Josh Charles as Knox Overstreet, Gale Hansen as Charlie Dalton, Allelon Ruggeiro as Steven Meeks, James Waterston as Gerard Pitts, and Dylan Kussman as Richard Cameron.

Watching them act is a true pleasure.

4. Kurtwood Smith as Neil’s father. It’s easy to just see him as a bad guy but his role is very understandable. What parent doesn’t want the best for their kid? Many parents think they know what is best, what career they want for their kid, and a lot of them push much harder than Neil’s father did.

5. The school. The film was mostly filmed at St Andrews School in Delaware. The location was also used in the West Wing episode “Two Cathedrals” and being such a fan of DPS, I recognised it right away. It is an absolutely beautiful location and adds much beauty to the film. As you see.

6. Robin Williams as John Keating. Out of all the movies Robin has been in, I believe this is his best performance and certainly my favourite. He is inspirational as the teacher with a difference.

7. Cinematography by John Seale* – another Aussie, and looking at the list of movies he has been involved with it is no surprise to me that many of them are on my dvd shelves. I’m not an expert in cinema or anything but the way this movie was filmed, the way the camera lets the story be told, it is incredible to watch.

8. Shakespeare. The play in the movie is A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Puck’s ending speech has become very well known because it appeared in this movie. It’s always nice to have a bit of Shakespeare around and it somewhat inspires me to review Shakespeare in Love next, which I have been meaning to do for a long time.

9. The ending of the movie. If you have not seen it I am not going to spoil it for you. Those who have seen it know what I’m talking about.

10. The poetry. Truly, it stars in this movie. I don’t want to spoil any of that for you either, if you’ve not seen it.

Quite a lot of this movie is available on Youtube. I would suggest if you have not seen the movie go and buy it on DVD and watch it from start to finish because little clips of this movie really aren’t enough.

If you enjoyed this review, you might also enjoy these other reviews.

Pump Up The Volume
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
The Pirate Movie
Chocolat
Shakespeare In Love
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

* Re John Seale, Oddly enough, he was involved in the filming of a movie called The Survivor which was filmed not very far from where I lived in Adelaide, at Pasadena – and many Adelaideians would remember going to watch the filming. I was like 5 or 6 at the time but I still remember the images clearly. It involved the crash of a 747 which in itself was fascinating.