Customer Reviews

Tortilla Soup [VHS]

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Finally! "Tortilla Soup" is such an uplifting and lighthearted portrayal of contemporary Mexican-American life. Although it uses alot of cliche and works so hard to break negative stereotypes, this Mexican remake of another Ang Lee script is an original in its remedy to mainstream beliefs about Mexican-American culture. As in "Like Water for Chocolate" this movie puts cliche to good use by weaving America's popular, but narrow, idea that Latin food and romance are the greatest contributions to American culture. But we also get a fresh taste of the earthy Latin comedy that we so rarely see on the silver screen. Like Paul Rodriguez' comment about food "toppings". The cast gives great performances and Hector Elisondo is brilliant as the backbone of the family and the film. The actors in this film portray the abilities of Hollywood's new faces with a fresh sense of depth and Raquel Welch has reached a point in her career where she can really laugh at herself, and that's funny. "Tortilla Soup" brilliantly and sensually displays the artful process of gourmet Mexican and how food as culture, as art, as tradition, can bring people together.

The director, Maria Ripoll and the screenwriter, Vera Blasi had an uphill battle to say the least when they decided to adapt the incomparable Ang Lee's "Eat Drink Man Woman" to the screen with their "Tortilla Soup." Martin Naranjo (Hector Elizondo) is a master chef, though semi-retired from the restaurant he created, and living with three daughters: Leticia (Elizabeth Pena), the oldest and a high school chemistry teacher, Carmen (Jacqueline Obrados), an MBA and very successful in business and Maribel, in high school and searching for the "meaning of life" as all teenagers should be doing. This film is very much like "Soul Food" in that most of the action revolves around the dinner table with luscious-looking food designed and prepared by the "Hot Tamales" of Food TV fame. And like Ang Lee's film all the daughters and their father are searching for love, happiness and contentment.Aren't we all? There is no violence except for a few dishes that get broken. In fact nothing much happens except we are made privy to several interesting people and watch as they conduct their lives in a rich, deep and fulfilling manner. Besides Elizondo who always does a great job, the standout performance has to be Jacqueline Obrados as Carmen. Keep your eyes open in the future as I'm sure we are going to see great things from her. An interesting note: Nikolai Kinski, grandson of the famous Klaus and son of the also famous Nastassia plays Maribel's boyfriend, Andy. That's three generations of Kinski's now in the movies and Nikolai makes a good impression in a basic no frills role. Food means love, sharing and camaraderie in "Tortilla Soup," (Mexican characters) as it did in "Soul Food"(African-American characters) and "Eat Drink Man Woman" (Taiwanese characters). Maybe the United Nations should make note of this. You think?

A multigenerational tale of a widowed Latino father trying to hold his family of 3 fractious daughters together with the bond of carefully prepared meals. The food preparation scenes will keep you spellbound and can be appreciated on many levels: cooking lesson (really!), act of love, devotion, offering of sacrifice, parental love from a man who has a hard time saying I Love You. His daughters, a repressed Catholic, a liberated high schooler, and a 'modern woman,' just won't conform to his standards of proper Latinas. Then Raquel Welch, a nosy, in-your-face widow comes on the scene, and the fireworks begin.
But there's the food. Always the food, beginning, middle, and end.
Don't miss it.

This was a delightful movie--- a family story, a food story, a comedy, and some unexpected romances. In turn funny and poignant, this was meant to entertain and it did!

It was wonderful seeing Hector Elizonda in a leading role as Martin, a former chef who has lost his senses of taste and smell. He is a wonderful actor, and the three actresses who played his daughters who still live at home did a good job too. Raquel Welsh was a bit "out there" but was not on the screen that much.

Martin prepares incredibly elaborate meals...but now just for his daughters and an occasional guest. He is old-fashioned and very proud and thinks he is still taking care of his grown daughters....except that they think they are taking care of him! Despite his efforts to control the lives of those under his roof, each of the girls has her own ideas about the future.

The food scenes are beautifully filmed and leave the viewers' mouths watering. Each meal looks more scrumptious than the last!

All in all, a feel-good movie that did a good job of entertaining.

I totally agree with Karen Potts in her review here of March, 2002. I just saw this movie, as I missed it at the theaters when it came out. It was a breath of fresh air. I want to be entertained when I go to a movie, not be depressed or disturbed by what I have seen. This is a feel-good movie, light and entertaining. Hector Elizondo is great as usual, as a chef and widowed father of 3 daughters, each of them yearning to spread their wings and yet feeling tied to home and tradition. The respect and love they each have for their father is apparent, and delightful. The family dinners and conversation that takes place at the table is a focal point of the movie. I especially enjoyed the performances of Elizabeth Peña (eldest daughter, Leticia) and Paul Rodriguez as her love interest. They were such fun to watch. Raquel Welch's performance as well was spicy and delightful, as the sexy divorcee pursuing Elizondo, much to the dismay of his daughters. The food looked mouth watering, and in itself is worth seeing the movie for. This movie has a PG-13 rating but only because of sexual innuendos in the beginning between one of the daughters and her lover, but nothing graphic is shown, and there is no bad language. Our family including the 10-12 year olds all loved it.

Hector Elizondo is an actor of uncommon skill. Aside from his superlative work as a Doctor on "Chicago Hope" he has been often cast as a sideman in films - the trusted aide, the sympathetic boss - but often in supporting roles. In "Tortilla Soup" he takes the leading role in a Mexican-American remake of Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman.

He plays Martin Naranjo, a Mexican Chef so gifted that all who eat his cuisine proclaim him an artist. The movie has delightful flourishes where we see dishes being prepared, then eaten, that are so delightful that you can almost perceive the wonderful aroma leaping from the screen. Martin is has lost much of his sense of taste, which he thinks is a cruel irony, but his Cuban partner reminds him that Beethoven composed his greatest symphonies after he had lost the sense of hearing. Martin also has 3 daughters who he has raised sinced becoming a widower 15 years ago. Elizabeth Pena is Leticia, the pious schoolteacher who is invited to ask the blessing prior to the family meals although she turns a simple "grace" into mini-sermons. Jacqueline Obradors is the saucy Carmen, who was encouraged to get her MBA by Martin, but has difficulty balancing the borderline ethics of large business deals with her growing realization that she is not pursuing her passion - as her father did with his wondrous cooking. Tamara Mello is the youngest Maribel who finds herself torn between the pressure to go to college and to "find herself". Constance Marie is family friend Yolando, who is the same age as the older sisters and is coming to the end of a dissatisfying marriage with a young daughter who Martin dotes on. Raquel Welch is Yolando's mother, Hortensia, who is also without a man and plainly has designs on the compassionate and accomplished Martin.

The film depicts the evolution of these various characters as they come to terms with the progression of their love lives and professions. At the beginning of the film all of the characters are single. By the end they've all been paired off in one manner or another, some in a manner more satisfyingly realistic than others. Raquel Welch is a bit of a distraction in the film. At age 61 she has a show-stopping beauty that few woman would aspire to at age 25. In a film full of attractive performers she doesn't "look her age" enough to blend into the story. She plays the part of geriatric bombshell jester and in a nice ensemble this role sticks out like a geriatric bombshell jester.

The movie otherwise has some realistic and positive things to say about aspirations and relationships and I would recommend it if only to watch Hector Elizondo around the dinner table and in the kitchen.

This film is a good down to earth, feel good about yourself type of movie. Martin the father played by Hector Elizondo has three daughters that live at home with him. Hector once a chef that owned his own restaurant now cooks extravagant meals for his daughters and only wants them to be there for a traditional Sunday meal. The oldest daughter is Leticia played by Elizabeth Peña and she is a junior high school chemistry teacher that is confined by religion until she meets Paul Rodriquez the shcool's baseball coach. The middle daughter Carmen played by Jacqueline Oradors wants to do everything for her father, but finally realizes that she needs to do what she loves to do. The youngest daughter Maribel played by Tamara Mello is a young fiesty beutiful woman that works at a record store and wants to explorer the world after meeting a brazilian named Andy played by Nikolai Kinski instead of going off to college like what her fathers wants her to do. To add some spice to the whole mixture there is Hortensia played by Raquel Welch but I do think that they dropped off the "W" in front of her name. She goes "Ga Ga" over Martin and that is when everything goes bananas. Tortilla Soup is good for this Chicano Soul. If you like Mi Familia you will enjoy this film with no violence and a lot of laughs.

Yes, Ang Lee's classic inspired it. So what. Sure, may be it lacks the panache of its precursor. All said and done, Tortilla Soup is still a fabulous feast of cooking, food, love, values.

Set in some Mexican part of LA, this is a movie about, of course, food. But just bubbling under the comic surface are half a dozen more sombre themes involving how food brings us together and how it changes in tune with culture, sibling rivalry, personal freedom, ambition etc etc.

Yet, the execution is thankfully sunny and quick so it never gets ho-hum. If nothing else, I bet it'll make you crave for some Mexican food. Highly recommend taking a sip of this one.

Hector Elizondo plays the part of a chef and father of three daughters. The daughters are all declaring their independence
in different ways and that is difficult for their all-too-traditional father. The relationship between the girls and their father is well-portrayed as a cross between love for the family and desire to lead their own lives. There are lots of scenes where delicious food is being prepared and they are a delight to the eyes of the viewer. A little spice is thrown into the mix when Racqel Welch appears as the mother of a family friend who has her eye squarely on Hector. Predictably, the daughters are not too pleased about the situation. This is a light-hearted comedy set around a close Mexican family and it makes for a most enjoyable evening.

For those of you interested in seeing another notable food film, I reccomend TORTILLA SOUP. This is the Mexican-American update of EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN. The story is the same, only the language, names and food have changed. Yet, it still manages to workm though, purests will probably find plenty of room to criticize it for being a "knock off." The story follows Martin Naranjo (Hector Elizondo), a widower who was once a legendary chef at a restaurant, but has since lost his ability to taste. Martin lives with his three adult daughters, Letitia (Elizabeth Pena), Carmen (Jacqueline Obradors) and Maribel (Tamara Mello). As the young women start to break away from family and start lives of their own, Sunday dinners are the one ritual that keeps them connected with their father, through his luscious meals.

This film is well-acted, though, I could have done without Raquel Welch in an overly melo-dramatic role, here. She was just too shrill for my tastes, and not that entertaining. The food scenes, on the other hand, will really draw you in. Be sure to keep your finger on the dial to the best Mexican restaurant in your neighborhood, because you will be jonesing for some tlapana soup and chipotle when it's all through!