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90For so brisk and entertaining a film, sharp in its observations but light in its touch, Cooking has unexpected substance and is a formidable accomplishment in that it brings dimension to its nearly 40 principal characters.
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88Because the stories are so skillfully threaded together, the movie doesn't feel like an exercise: Each of the stories stands on its own.
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80What makes this movie special is the meticulous attention placed on each of its characters, employing them not in the traditional "melting pot" manner that is so common, but as part of a grand mosaic that actually seems to be worth sharing.
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75Splendid acting, a screenplay as likable as it is unpredictable, and an undercurrent of deep human generosity make this a particularly engaging comic-dramatic experience.
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75Lighthearted and smart enough to be one of the best Altmanesque ensemble comedies of the last couple of years.
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75Her (Chadha) film tastily demonstrates that variety is the spice of not only American life, but of American cuisine.
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75A big-hearted celebration of the we're-all-in-this- together American way.
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Like the meal itself, the movie's both filling and familiar.
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70It's a meal you may feel you've eaten before, but you nonetheless walk away stuffed and happy.
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70Though often enjoyable, it’s an old-fashioned, feel-good movie whose significance is more sociological than cinematic.
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63This is ensemble work at its best.
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63More interesting as a sociological study than successful as a movie, What's Cooking? gets more involving as it strolls along.
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60That director and co-writer Gurinder Chadha transforms this sitcom material into a lively and charming film about the melting pot at full boil probably owes something to the fact that her own multicultural bona fides are firmly in order.
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58A seven-course melodrama.
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58If Chadha never quite overcomes her cliches, her good-natured humor and familial faith gives it a warm, winsome dimension.
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50This good-hearted but undersupplied ensemble piece is only appetizer-deep.
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50Despite some grace- ful performances, especially from Ruehl and Kazan, the result is a tepid repast at best.
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50This concept comedy-drama would be even better if the intercutting among households had been timed to add dramatic content rather than simply advance the subplots.
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42Goes overboard in its presentation of supposed reality.
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40Like too many Thanksgiving dinners, too much squabbling really wreaks havoc on the digestion. Football, anyone?
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30Trades in sitcom stereotypes and crosscuts predictably from family to family as if under the misapprehension that equal time is a dramatic principle.
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30Hopefully, the next time around, Chadha's imagination will be in the service of not just excellent casting and directing, but a script to match those other cinematic components.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 3 out of 4
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Mixed: 0 out of 4
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Negative: 1 out of 4
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Rosie8
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LeonS2Overated and predicatble.