A Disappointing Continuation

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Sarah Michelle Gellar stars in this sappy cringeworthy romantic comedy about a amateur chef who comes across a mysterious crab who has magical powers that turns Gellar's charcther into a brilliant chef. But problems arise however when she falls in love with a guy who works at a department store. So when he tastes her food and likes it she has to wonder can all this got to do with the mysterious magical crab?Bottom line this film is definitely a guilty pleasure for a lot of romantic comedy fans. Its silly,its cringeworthy,its got the same formula as every romantic comedy. I may try and track this film down and watch it again.

I saw this on a bus when they were testing out showing movies during the trip so I had no choice but to watch the whole thing. That's my excuse.This is the best (worst?) example of how Hollywood producers can completely screw up a great European movie (City of Angels is a close second). The original, "Like Water for Chocolate" is a beautiful fantasy where the emotions of the cook are transferred to her food and her guests in a magic realism type of way (i.e. magical things just happen as a natural part of life). In the American version, to market to the church lady in Arkansas, we can't have any of this magical realist witchcraft, so we have a guardian angel, in the form of a dog (Americans love dogs) so that we know the it's not pagan magic but Christian miracles. Also, because the intended audience will be too stupid to understand when something miraculous happens, we'll have a special sound go off, just like in King's Quest when the player does something right. And make it into a simple Harlequin romance too while we're at it...Fortunately, it seems that only people trapped on a bus watched this - but of course that's because Americans just don't *get* European films.

Cipher-J's shallow screed entitled "Wholly Incompatible!" strives for eloquence but manages only petulance. It is, I suppose, to be expected in this day and age, when the ability to read is no longer necessary to graduate from high school, that a viewer could watch this film and somehow miss the obvious: that, in the end, the boy could not resist the girl, despite his Darrenesque reservations. (That's an allusion to "Bewitched," Cipher-J.) Characterizing someone or something as irresistible implies struggle; it implies that someone tried to resist, and couldn't. Shazam! That's exactly what we see! Is that ironic, or what? Cipher-J, thy nick is well-chosen.I liked this movie. I liked the characters. I thought it was sweet. It made me feel good. Sarah Michelle Gellar is hot. No, it didn't heighten my political consciousness. It didn't make me want to write a 2,000-word essay on Sartre and his influence on modern cinema. It merely made me happy. Isn't that what it's supposed to do?

FYI -There is a wee spoiler in this text.Here is another food movie to make you cringe like you never cringed before. The producers in this caramelized eye sore serve you a Pâté de Poor Acting on a soggy bed of Flimsy Plot. The music score gets more syrupy by the minute and by the time the movie finally ends the notes are oozing down the screen. Worth enjoying were scenes of various actors getting mouthgasms and rolling their eyes with every bite of Sarah Michelle Gellar's dishes. Unfortunately, by the third time you have witnessed this act of convulsive eating it has all but lost its charm. So if you can't resist killing time then see Simply Irresistible, but if you have a choice then move on to greener spinach. Better yet, if you are in the mood for a good food film, then see "Chocolat" directed by Lasse Hallstöm. Bon Appetit!