The title alone requires coughing up phlegm just to say. (Hey, try it and you’ll see.) Yes, kids, CHOCOLAT is a chick flick, but you needn’t be worried because it’s a good one regardless. Although, I could swear that I’ve seen this exact same story before, only without the chocolate. But while I enjoyed the movie a great deal, there’s some underlying rhetoric that’s troubling. Accepting that a town and people could be so oppressive or oppressed over something as inane as candy is asking a little much, metaphor or not. If the chocolate is a metaphor, then it’s all the more reason to raise an eyebrow. Films of late seem to constantly be centering their disapproval and mockery towards a certain religious faith and those who follow it. If CHOCOLAT were the only one, than it wouldn’t really matter. Unfortunately, it’s not and it’s becoming more and more frequent. There’s nothing wrong with criticism or satire, but it does seem rather biased and one-sided, almost malicious. Even more troubling is how so many of these films are coming from Miramax. I’d rather not draw any definitive conclusions, but it’s getting to be less and less of a coincidence.

      CHOCOLAT is still a wonderful and lighthearted romantic comedy, so I wouldn’t discourage anyone from going. But moments like these only leave you scratching your head, because they seem so unnecessary, frankly. There’s clearly much to enjoy about this film and the rhetoric is not near as bad as some. Did it need to be there at all is my question, at least in such a grandiose way?