Rating: 
Summary: Contemporary "Like Water for Chocolate"
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Soul Food - Gone Neuvo Latino
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The Way to a Man's Heart is through..............
Review: 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?
Rating:
Summary: Contemporary "Like Water for Chocolate"
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch the Original
Review: An EXACT copy of Ang Lee's wonderful "Eat Drink Man Woman". Frankly what annoyed me here was I watched this one first.. I just finished watching Eat Drink.. it took me about 15 minutes to realize I was watching an exact copy of something I'd already seen a couple years ago. Anyway, I was annoyed because while I could predict events in Eat Drink because I'd seen Tortilla Soup, Eat Drink was clearly the better movie -- so unfortunately it spoiled some of the pleasure of Eat Drink for me. If you haven't seen either, see the better of the two (exact same stories): Eat Drink Man Woman.
Rating:
Summary: Accesible, entertaining version of "Eat Drink Man Woman"
Review: On accident I rented "Eat Drink Man Woman" and "Tortilla Soup" almost back to back. I didn't know that "Tortilla Soup" was a remake of "Eat Drink Man Woman" but I enjoyed it a lot more. I still liked EDMW but found that TS was much more entertaining and approachable. The humor and culture were more familiar and as a result it was easier to identify with the characters. The Japanese culture in EDMW was interesting as a study in itself but prevented me from feeling involved in the movie. The cooking sequences in both are a pleasure to watch and both make you appreciate the art of cooking. Both films join "Babbette's Feast" as landmark "cooking" movies, celebrating food's ability to bring people together and provide meaningful social interaction. If your in the mood for a funny, romantic, uplifting film I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully done comedy!
Review: This is the way comedy should be done- warm, funny, heart-touching, with a little craziness thrown in.
Hector Elizondo and Raquel Welch are perfect- he's understated, she's over the top...just like the movie. The story never bogs down, but zips right along nicely. The sisters bicker, their father worries, Hortensia (Welch) does her best to snag him, and we laugh. Great fun!
A note on the rating for parents like me who wonder about the PG13 rating (one can never tell these days!): There's one woman shown in skimpy underclothing, and one sex scene along with sexual references and jokes, so this would not be suitable for kids.
Rating:
Summary: Watch the Original
Review: An EXACT copy of Ang Lee's wonderful "Eat Drink Man Woman". Frankly what annoyed me here was I watched this one first.. I just finished watching Eat Drink.. it took me about 15 minutes to realize I was watching an exact copy of something I'd already seen a couple years ago. Anyway, I was annoyed because while I could predict events in Eat Drink because I'd seen Tortilla Soup, Eat Drink was clearly the better movie -- so unfortunately it spoiled some of the pleasure of Eat Drink for me. If you haven't seen either, see the better of the two (exact same stories): Eat Drink Man Woman.
Rating:
Summary: What an absolute delight!
Review: Anyone who labels this a "rip-off" or a "straight copy" lacks the common sense to discern the difference between plagarism and a delicious remake. "Eat Drink Man Woman" is a great film, and "Tortilla Soup" is a wonderful homage to that work. Personally, I'm so glad to see Hector Elizondo in a leading-man role; he's fabulous in this film. And there's not a single weak link in the cast. AND.. if you are at ALL a 'foodie'... you owe it to yourself to add this flick to your library. Gads, the knife technique alone is worth it. It's close-up food porn! I heartily endorse this movie.
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