Rating: 
Summary: A fairy tale for adults & some kids
Review: While other reviewers focus on the way that Juliette Binoche's character brings savor and tolerance to a repressed French village, the moving thing in the story for me is how she learns that she doesn't have to keep running from place to place, and can in fact be happy and free even though she settles down. An important lesson for "free spirits".I watched this with my girls aged 8 and 5, and while there were a few semi-explicit sex scenes that some parents would prefer their kids not to see, mine were impressed with the characters and the story. They enjoyed it greatly along with me, which I don't mean to imply makes it a kids' movie in any way. But there is a story here that appeals to all ages.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Film
Review: OK--So I thought this'd be a "chick flick." I wound up enjoying it a lot. A nice movie with a good look. I especially enjoy watching the color in the film change as the story progresses.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful light movie
Review: This movie is a wonderful movie. A bit of romance, and rekindling of family ties makes this a fantastic movie to watch to uplift spirits. The cast is absolutely enchanting and are a joy to watch. Juliette Binoche portrays a free spirited woman who arrives in a rustic French town and touches the lives of the individuals as well as her new village. Her interactions with the people are amusing and and meaningful as she tends to give them a bit of her free spirit and set the people free of the chains that have kept them from living their lives fully. Is this a high drama intellectual film, no. This will entertain you. The DVD is packed with all sorts of information, interviews, and the making of the film. This is a what a DVD is meant to be.
Rating: 
Summary: good but not great
Review: This movie wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. If you like midly funny movies you would like this one. I watched it mainly because I am a huge Johnny Depp fan. It wasn't one of the best movies I have seen but also not the worst. I would say it was midly humorus. kinda bordering on blah.
Rating: 
Summary: This film is disturbingly anti Catholic ...
Review: Someone at the office recommended this film as one of the finest she saw so I went there expecting to be enthralled by its beauty.
There was beauty all right. But in the wrong place. The power of filmmaking is that one is able to convey the author's view and beliefs and if crafted right, move the audience to that belief system. Witness the power of the Disney's film "BAMBI" to increase the number of people against hunting innocent animals.No question that it influenced me in that I never hunted animals.
The film Chocolat clearly shows the author's bias towards the New Age and Witchcraft in using chocolate. Witchcraft meaning using compounds to trigger sensations and release emotions that normally would not occur. It does show the origin of cacao in the indigenous mesoamerican religion.
In a good filmmaking, conflict is an essential part of crafting a story and the object is how the protagonist resolves that conflict.In Chocolat, the conflict is traditional repressive Catholic Christianity vs the New Age and the freedom it represents. The first thing that the newcomer protagonist Juliette Binoche as Vivianne does is to open the chocolate shop and have it be open on Sunday in a very Catholic 1950's French village.That is NOT respecting the local customs and practices and of course that starts a conflict.
The list of antagonists reads like everyone that a liberal card carrying ACLU member love to hate...a conservative priest, a conservative religious mayor, a white conservative population, a husband who expects his wife to stay at home...and of course he beats her also.
Of course, the conservative priest and the mayor are shown in the film as hypocrites and the freedom loving chocolat artisan Juliette and the gypsies such as Johnny Depp represent the finest humanity has to offer.
It was this obvious politically correct scriptwriting that lost my respect for the film.The positive for this film was that I thought the acting was excellent and the location and set exquisite.
I do recommend another film that dealt with religious repression and yet it was still respectful of that religion. Babette's Feast to me is a prime example of that film, able to resolve that conflict of releasing the human artistry and feelings amidst a desolate and seemingly repressed faith that allowed no sensual enjoyment for the sake of the religious faith. But yet, there was the respect for that sect by several people who forsook the repressive lifestyle and went on to enjoy the best the world had to offer : fame, fortune, power, the best food in the world ... and after doing all that, realized like the wise King Solomon of Israel and declare, All is vanity, all is vanity !! The French opera singer wrote in a letter that now he is older, he is not longer famous and everyone forgot him. He said maybe that the sisters who stayed in that village and that religious life may have chosen a better path.
I highly recommend Babette's Feast over Chocolat any day.
Rating: 
Summary: Phony uplift
Review: What a boring, obvious movie! Yes, sensuality is good, repression is bad, free spirits are better than uptight clergymen, and the marginalized are always right. I'm sure the makers of this film live by those principals on a daily basis. At least they sure love espousing them. ZZZZZZZZ.
Rating:
Summary: Deliciously sinful --- eat in moderation :-)
Review: Even back in the 1950's, in this quaint old-fashioned French town, they considered chocolate as an 'indulgence'. No, they were not concerned with the possible weight gain or health problems brought about by eating excessive amounts of chocolate. They deemed this treat as a temptation, & since it brings too much pleasure to the eater, they (particularly the town's mayor) considered it grave & sinful. As a viewer, I would deem the 'chocolat' as something intoxicating & liberating. It represents anything that would bring pleasure to the human senses. True, it unleashed passion & sensuality among couples. But it also signified something deeper than skin-deep gratification. It also represented anything that would liberate the town folks from their fears, insecurities, loneliness & prejudices --- whether it be directly or indirectly. Like chocolate, culture & religion come in different forms...some are common & widely accepted while others are a bit different & stand out like a sore thumb. But, also like chocolate, uniqueness adds to its beauty. So the next time you find yourself staring at a box of chocolate, do not judge its beauty simply by its shape or packaging. Why don't you cut out on your prejudices, broaden your horizons, widen your options & enjoy the experience of a mouth-watering treat. How about one of those melt-in-you-mouth-not-in-your-hand chocs?
Rating:
Summary: Sweet on the outside, but...
Review: OK, I saw "Chocolat" about three times on a trans-Atlantic flight, on a small screen lodged in the seat ahead of me, with all the discomforts of air travel, so this is a review tainted by circumstances. Still, each viewing of the movie brought me nothing in the way of insights, nothing in the way of repeated pleasure. This is, quite plainly, a film for women who want a feel-good experience. "Chacun a son goût," as the French say. Speaking of the French, I suspect that the creators of this bland confection chose 1950s France (or, more precisely, small village France) to poke Catholicism in the eye. Let's just say that if Juliette Binoche had set up shop in cosmopolitan Paris, there'd be no story. The visuals are nice, though. I give the film stars for making chocolate look great onscreen. But the characterizations are a bit too cardboard (the stuffy, self-righteous mayor who's harboring secret lust, the doormat wife who finds oodles of self-respect by the film's end, and the simpering deacon who delivers a nauseating PC sermon) to believe. If the feel-good aspect is all you're looking for, then why do you especially need all these vignettes about repressed people and a bunch of ragtag Gypsies? All you really need is a decent box of chocolates. It'll cost less and taste better in the end.
Rating:
Summary: A Rich and Creamy Delight
Review: Chocolat is a movie to please all our sensations!!
A delicious blend of sensuality,idealism, and a sprinkling of magic makes this film so addictive that once I see it in the listings, I,m hooked to view it over and over again.
Alively and bawdy soundtrack as well!!
Rating:
Summary: The power of Chocolate
Review: Filled with enchantment, Chocolat will take you on a mystic-magical journey into a far away time to a land that could be anywhere.
Johnny Depp surprised me with his subtle role as the romantic nomad...who comes to settle the wind, Juliette Binoche.
The people of the village, all settled into mundane and unhappy lives are brought to life by the power of chocolate...sprinkled with a little magic.
Renewing the marital passions, bring families back together, giving a woman an identity-all with the reward of LOVE in the end for Juilette Binoche.
Even Alfred Molina was brought around by this power hiding the cocoa. I loved it. This video goes in my-watch again and again stack.
Superb supporting cast carried the movie over any rough spots.
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