Tortilla Soup

Saw a really amazing family film tonight called Tortilla Soup. Family in the sense of being about a family although the movie is also fine to watch with the young ones. Hector Elizondo is the patriarch and Elizabeth Pena, Jacqueline Obradors (the latest NYPD Blue hottie), and Tamara Mello are his daughters. The plot is pretty basic, Mom is long since passed away and the daughters each have a romantic episode, and Dad has lost his senses of taste and smell. The action revolves around the kitchen–Dad is a master chef and he’s taught his daughters well–so a nice bowl of popcorn hit the spot.

Director Maria Ripoll is the real master here, bringing out terrific performances from all the actors, framing the shots with lots of bright colors, and managing the pacing spot on. This is actually a remake of an acclaimed Chinese film (co-written and directed by Crouching Tiger’s Ang Lee) called Eat Drink Man Woman but it really works unlike so many other remakes.And I can’t leave out mention of Raquel Welch, who looks amazing at 60, showing as a woman looking to take Elizondo as husband number five. On the surface this doesn’t come across as such a good film but trust me, which probably accounts for it’s less than amazing box office, but it is.

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