Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

bkoganbing Better Than Chocolate is a Canadian film about the relationship between mother and daughter which turns out to be a lot closer than we're originally led to believe. As the mother, Wendy Crewson appears to be oblivious to the fact that daughter Karyn Dwyer is a lesbian.At least that's how it appears when she drops in unannounced on her daughter and a recent new girl friend, Christina Cox. The pretext is that Dwyer has dropped out of the university, but Crewson wants to check out more than that.Acting honors in this film go to Peter Outerbridge who plays the transgender woman Judy, formerly Jeremy. Outerbridge in his own way is playing a role as much a pioneering effort as Hillary Swank in Boys Don't Cry. Had this been a major American film, we might have been talking Oscar for him.Outerbridge is a wise old soul who's seen life from a few different perspectives. She's been cast out by her family, kind of like Michael Dunn is Ship of Fools. Just as Dunn's parents didn't want a dwarf around and gave him spending money to constantly travel, Outerbridge's parents by him a flat precisely so he can live away from them. It's quite a scene when Judy discovers that the flat is really a kiss off. Crewson and Outerbridge aid each other in their moment of crisis.If nothing else should have tipped her off that Dwyer was not living the 'normal' life those battery operated sex toys should have said something. Of course Crewson finds they have their uses and she who has said that sex is now being sworn off for chocolate finds that even battery operated love is better than no love at all. Better Than Chocolate is funny and sweet and endearing all at the same time. A triple threat on the emotions from Anne Wheeler in Canada.

ladymidath Better than chocolate was a sweet, funny and tender film that explores the lives and loves of a disparate group of people. Maggie and Kim, Francis and Judy *who was once Jeremy* and in the middle of it all is Lila, Maggie's rather naive mother who with her teenage son, moves in with Maggie. The scenes between the neurotic Francis and Judy are wonderful and the scene where Francis confronts a customs officer that is holding up her books is priceless. But most importantly, it shows that love comes in all shapes and forms.You don't have to be a lesbian to love this movie. Just grab a big bowl of popcorn, sit back and enjoy.

magik511 I have seen this film twice and still find it charming, funny, and touching. I would consider it in the "Romantic Comedy" category of movies, but a particularly good one, and including the sex scenes that most movies in that genre show only in shadow. Although I didn't find it particularly sexy because I'm not attracted to women, I still love watching this film. The characters are extremely believable. Even though it is a relatively light-hearted picture it manages to explore not only issues of sexual identity, but parental acceptance, the ability of a woman to move-on after divorce, the importance of following your dreams, and even how to deal with hate.

questor2-1 Of the more than one thousand productions I have seen during my lifetime, this is definitely among the top three.It is strong in almost every respect, from its cinematography to its background music.To me, its highest appeal is its unqualified universality of emotion. How many of us have not had a parent step in at some supremely inopportune moment and ruin something valuable in our lives? How many of us have not been hated by someone who sees the world differently? How many of us have not instantly fallen in love? It is almost irrelevant that the production is set in the gay section of Vancouver or that the main characters focus on same sex love. It is emotions common to everyone that give the production its extreme appeal. I was cheering the girls, and would have been very hurt if they had not gotten back together again.I might add that this is the only DVD I have seen in which I enjoyed the director's comments as much as the production itself.Both of the young actresses displayed an amazing variety of facial expressions. The shot focusing on Cox's deep blue eyes while Karyn is unable to confront her mother with the truth is priceless, as is Cox's gesture half hiding her face and half saying "so what" as she flees the applauding crowd after the bathroom scene.The film's only weakness, in my opinion, is that everybody found someone in the end, at least at the very same instant. Life is simply not that generous.In summary, few viewers will be leave this experience feeling worse than when they began.