Tortilla Soup

Buy This Item Tortilla Soup by Sony Pictures  Available from Amazon  $10.99  on 9-19-2008     The tantalizing genre of food films--stretching from <I>Babette's Feast</I> to <I>Big Night</I> and beyond--has a delicious new addition, <I>Tortilla Soup</I>. The food-preparation scenes will make your mouth water. Fortunately, the rest of the movie holds up as well. Hector Elizondo plays Martin, a widowed chef who is losing both his sense of taste and control over his three daughters: Leticia (the always superb Elizabeth Peña), a religious schoolteacher; Carmen (Jacqueline Obradors), a successful but unhappy businesswoman still carrying on an affair with her ex-boyfriend; and Maribel (Tamara Mello), a rebellious teen falling in love with a young Brazilian. When a pushy, nosy, but very sexy widow named Hortensia (Raquel Welch) comes along, the troublesome subcurrents in the family start to surface. Elizondo's understated gravitas anchors the story, while the three sisters have sex, eat amazing-looking food, and break plates in the kitchen. <I>--Bret Fetzer</I> Reader Reviews This tremendously entertaining, funny, and enjoyable film is based on the original Ang Lee production, "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" which came out in 1994. While "Tortilla Soup" stays within the boundaries of the original screen play as written by Hui-Ling Want, Ang Lee, and James Schamus ... the differences are palpable and obvious. First, "Tortilla Soup" is set in California and the cultural background of the family is Mexican-American. Martin Naranjo (played to perfection by Hector Elizondo) is the retired chef and widowed father who chops, cooks, and creates the most magnificent, delicious, and spicey *Mexican* meals this side of the Rio Grande. He is the loving father of three adult daughters whom he single-handedly raised after his wife died fifteen years ago. Carmen, his oldest daughter who wanted to walk in her father's footsteps and become a chef but she ended up earning an M.B.A. in order to please him (secretly she loves to create new meals and dishes). Leticia ("Letty"), the middle daughter is more plain looking and a high school teacher whose subject is chemistry. She teaches at a public high school. Maribella, the youngest daughter is more modern and does not have a job yet. She has been accepted to the local University but is contemplating "finding herself" and discovering her interests .. especially after she meets André, a handsome young Brazilian, living in a studio apartment, who seems to live a care-free existence in the USA. Martin loves to prepare the weekly Sunday meal where the family tradition is to gather around the table and talk. Occasionally, Yolanda, a young lady next door and her school-aged daughter April join this family feast. Yolanda's mother Hortensia arrived to help while Yolanda's divorce is finalized. Raquel Welch plays Hortensia, the sexy mature siren who notices Martin's fine qualities. She attempts to endear herself to him through her feminine wiles.The story proceeds to show how Carmen plays the ultimate free-spirited career woman, who engages in fulfilling herself on many levels but is really dissatisfied and restless. Letty is a devoted teacher whose life seems unfulfilled, so she changed religions and joined a charismatic Christian church but seems doomed to remain a single "old maid". Maribella, the rebellious teenager dares to announce at one of the family dinners she wants to postpone college. She even shocks her boyfriend André when she says her plans are to move in with him (they had not discussed this ahead of time). Martin is called in to his former restaurant to fix a crisis because someone burned so much food, they don't know if the situation can be turned around to save the banquet. Luckily, he gets the bright idea to convert the burnt carmelized apples into a French dessert. The viewer is introduced to his good friend Gomez with whom he shares his personal feelings about life. Unfortunately, Gomez has health problems - and passes out in the kitchen of the restaurant. This situation gets Martin to think about his own health and to get his priorities in order. Carmen is contemplating moving to Barcelona, Spain to accept a dream job, even though she just bought a condo locally, with plans to live out on her own. Letty receives poetic cards left on her desk, believing they are from Orlanda Castillo, the new baseball coach at the high school. Marbella finds living with her boyfriend is not the ideal situation she had hoped it would be. All the subplots within the main story line develop unexpected twists and turns which hold the viewer's interest from start to finish. Even Martin pulls a huge surprise and makes a grand announcement at one of the family dinners, creating such a commotion that Hortensia faints. Unlike in the original film, Carmen makes one of her passionate dreams become reality. Letty's story unfolds pretty well as expected but with some new flairs and funny moments. Marbella's teenage rebellion phase passes and luckily, André comes around to seeing things her way. Overall, this is a great remake of the original, with unique embellishments and cultural differences to satisfy most viewers. I was very pleased to have discovered this film. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

Tortilla Soup Available from Amazon Price: $10.99 Updated on 9-19-2008.

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