Tortilla Soup

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Movie Details

• Genre: Comedy, Romance
• Release Date: 2001-08-24 Limited
• Running Time: 102 min.
• Director: Maria Ripoll
• Cast: Hector Elizondo, Jacqueline Obradors, Raquel Welch
• Producer: John Bard Manulis
• Writer: Vera Blasi
• Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
• Official Site: Tortilla Soup Official Site

Funny that a film about cooking should be so bland. A culture-swapping remake of Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman, Tortilla Soup wants to be a celebration of the fiery food and fiery women anchoring the life of widower Martin Naranjo (Hector Elizondo), but it's too self-conscious to ever let itself go. The result is a portrait of what passion probably looks like when imagined by people in windowless offices--in other words, a little different from the real thing. It takes place in the Lake Wobegon of Latino Los Angeles, where all fathers are beneficent, all daughters are grateful, and all grandmothers are played by Raquel Welch. Unfortunately, in such idyllic surroundings, nothing's really at stake. Oh, sure, there are typecast daughters dealing with typecast problems. The plain-Jane schoolteacher (Elizabeth Peña) has the love life of a nun. The hot-tempered businesswoman (Jacqueline Obradors) craves both independence and recognition from her father. And the young rebel (Tamara Mello) wants a chance to find herself before blindly accepting the school-to-college-to-work path that has been laid out for her. But...whatever. These aren't real people with real problems, just actors wearing expensive clothes, walking around on expensive sets, serving as generic ingredients in cinematic comfort food. (Kirsten Marcum)