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76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
30
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34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
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39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
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42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
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66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
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86
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13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
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70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
64
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Chocolat

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 37 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Romance
Written by:
Robert Nelson Jacobs
Joanne Harris (novel)
Directed by: Lasse Hallström
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 15, 2000
DVD: August 7, 2001
Running Time: 105 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for a scene of sensuality and some violence
Starring Juliette Binoche, Victoire Thivisol, Johnny Depp, Alfred Molina, Judi Dench, and Lena Olin
When Vianne (Binoche), a mysterious stranger, and her child arrive in a tranquil French town in the winter of 1959, nobody could have imagined the impact that she and her spirited daughter would have on this community stubbornly rooted in tradition. (Miramax Films)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: An Unfinished Life Casanova The Cider House Rules The Hoax The Shipping News
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
It's tantalizing, delectable and randy, a movie of melting eroticism and toothsome humor.
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's built of such exquisite craft -- the acting, the decor, the photography, the music -- that to refuse it is to refuse the very sensations that draw us to art, romance and maybe even life itself.
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
A work of artistry and craftsmanship at the highest level.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf
If Hallström has a problem with tone, it lies in his almost supernatural niceness. Thus, what arrives on-screen is purely a man's feminism, simple and trite and beautiful and vital.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Frank Lovece
The film burbles with delightful dialogue and a sparkling sense of life.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Kristy Martin
It's so easy to be mesmerized by Chocolat's brilliant indulgences that one abandons reason altogether.
Newsweek David Ansen
Chocolat is a seriocomic plea for tolerance, gift-wrapped in the baby blue colors of a fairy tale and served up with a sybaritic smile.
LA Weekly Paul Malcolm
While there are scenes of wrenching emotional openness and spontaneous charm -- largely due to the irresistible allure and impeccable craft of its ensemble cast -- the degree of calculation apparent in its plot and images undermines its efforts to move and seduce.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
So assured in its manipulative prowess that only afterward do you realize how fully you've been worked over.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
May not be deep, but it certainly is lip-smacking.
New York Post Lou Lumenick
A bittersweet confection that few holiday filmgoers will be able to resist, thanks to melt-in-your-mouth performances by Juliette Binoche, Alfred Molina and Judi Dench.
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie is charming and whimsical, and Binoche reigns as a serene and wise goddess.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
A charming trifle, beautifully filmed in a Currier & Ives setting, with buttery-smooth performances from Binoche and Depp, and enough good tidings in its nougat center to get you through the holidays.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
The director (Hallstrom) and cast are all excellent.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
It's as agreeably sweet as advertised, with a particularly yummy performance by Juliette Binoche.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Has an unerring capacity for going soft whenever a hard edge is called for.
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Certainly satisfies our hunger for a light, bright dessert, yet it may leave you hungry for more.
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Too bad Chocolat isn't as seductive as its leading lady.
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Like binging on a bottomless box of truffles: Tastes good and sweet at first, but after a while, you start feeling a little green.
Time Richard Schickel
Made with a sort of tasteful vulgarity, this movie never disappoints the slack-minded audience's anticipation of the humanistically healing banality, the life-crushing behavioral cliché.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
Never enough goodies to keep the two-hour running time from seeming like three.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer
A lighthearted fable with jarring scenes of violence and halfhearted stabs at mystical realism, its saving grace is its gooey center, the luminous Binoche.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Like its title implies, Chocolat tastes good in the moment but leaves behind little nutritional substance.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
I can only bestow this adaptation of Joanne Harris's bestselling novel with such faint praise as "pleasant" and "mildly disarming."
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 37 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Sharon G. gave it a9:
What a great film. It was light and mysterious and warming. It does what a movie like this should do, wrap you up in entertainment on a ill-weathered day. Drinking hot cocoa is a must!
Bohdan M.k gave it a10:
Fantastic movie. Absolutely fantastic. But, have to agree, it's not for all, as some say that it's an acquired, has a bitter kick, or is a little vapid. The film uses these characteristics as tools, and, when allowed, is a marvelous, beautiful, and mesmerizing in its plot, acting, and setting. Love it.
Mer gave it a 10:
Ya the people who gave this movie a 4 or a 2 or whatever do not know what the definition of a good movie is. they are probably the kind of people who like lots of violence massacre scary action-packed movies, and don't like mature movies. It was "a COMPLIMENT to our intelligence, VERY precious, VERY NOT VAPID, and REALISTIC in its feel-goodism." oh yeah and it did have great scenery and casting.
Rachael W. gave it a 10:
I think the cast did an awesome job portraying the charecters. johnny depp and juliette binoche were incredible. it's a movie you can lose yourself in.
Emma gave it a 10:
A dazzling movie! Stresses the importance to accept people for the way they are, and not judging them based on other's opinions. A heartwarming story that'll leave you with a smile on your face!
Pat C. gave it a 7:
Like Chocolate, Binoche is an acquired taste, always forthright and invigorated in a world that imposes the devious and dull. Always count on her as the French equivalent of a Merchant Ivory visit to the provinces.
Layne gave it a 7:
As light a flavor and as sweet as chocolate itself, but with a bitter kick to it. It's good, but shame on the Academy for giving it a Best Picture nod!
