Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 2001
Tortilla Soup
Buy Tortilla Soup now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Tortilla Soup
| image = TortillaSoupPoster.jpg
| caption = Original poster
| director = Mara Ripoll
| producer = John Bard Manulis
| writer = Tom Musca
Ramn Menndez
Vera Blasi
| based_on =
| starring = Hctor Elizondo
Jacqueline Obradors
Elizabeth Pea
Tamara Mello
Raquel Welch
| music = Bill Conti
| cinematography = Xavier Prez Grobet
| editing = Andy Blumenthal
| studio = Starz/Encore Entertainment
| distributor = Samuel Goldwyn Films
| released =
| runtime = 103 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross = $4,574,762
}}
'Tortilla Soup' is a 2001 American comedy-drama film directed by Mara Ripoll. The screenplay by Tom Musca, Ramn Menndez and Vera Blasi is based on the film 'Eat Drink Man Woman', which was written by Hui-Ling Wang, Ang Lee, and James Schamus.
Plot
Semi-retired Mexican-American chef Martin Naranjo shares a suburban Los Angeles home with his three adult daughters. Although he has lost the senses of smell and taste since his wife's death, he still cooks elaborate, multi-course meals for his family and friends. The women humor their father's old-fashioned ways, but each is searching for fulfillment outside the family circle.
Leticia, the oldest and most conservative of the three, is a repressed high school chemistry teacher who abandoned Catholicism to become a born-again Christian. Middle daughter Carmen (Obradors) shares her father's passion for food but has stifled her dream of owning a restaurant in favor of pursuing a more stable career as a business analyst. Maribel, the youngest, is hip and slightly rebellious.
Frequently present in the Naranjo home are newly divorced family friend Yolanda, her young daughter April, and her visiting mother Hortensia, who has set her sights on Martin and is determined to make him her next husband, unaware his attention is focused on someone else.
Maribel is drawn to handsome Brazilian student, Andy, after her co-worker rejects him and, after they briefly date, she invites him home for dinner, during which she blithely announces she is moving in with him, much to her father's consternation and Andy's shock, since they never had discussed elevating their somewhat casual relationship to this next level. Before long, she is rearranging his small apartment and unintentionally making him increasingly uncomfortable as she imposes herself in his life.
Meanwhile, Leticia finds herself attracted to Orlando Castillo, who coaches baseball at her school, when she begins to receive passionate love letters she believes are from him, unaware they actually were written by her students. Carmen is offered a high-profile job in Barcelona, and half-heartedly agrees to accept it, although soon after her father drives her to the airport she returns home, determined to follow in her father's footsteps and open a restaurant of her own.
Leticia and Orlando elope, Maribel and Andy break up and reunite, Martin marries Yolanda, and everyone gathers for a family meal at Carmen's new restaurant. It is, however, apparent that this family bonds over their love of food.
Cast
Production
The film was shot on location in El Segundo, California, USA and Los Angeles, California, USA.
The meals featured in the film were prepared by celebrity chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger who, as hosts of the Food Network program 'Too Hot Tamales', introduced viewers to their contemporary take on traditional Mexican cuisine. The Production Design was by the Argentine designer Alicia Maccarone.
The film's soundtrack includes "Sem conteno" by Bebel Gilberto, "Cuchi-Cuchi" and "Si estuvieras aqu" by Los Amigos Invisibles, "A bailar" by Patricio Castillo, "Si en un final" by Eliades Ochoa, "Call Waiting" by Zap Mama, "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" by Lila Downs, "Les Portes Du Souvenir" by Les Nubians, and "Amado mo" by Pink Martini.
Critical response
The film received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 74% based on reviews from 72 critics, with an average rating of 6.38/10. The consensus reads, "An English remake of Ang Lee's 'Eat Drink Man Woman', 'Tortilla Soup' is as charming and flavorful as the dishes it features."
Elvis Mitchell of the 'New York Times' called the film "forgettable" and "as predictable as a fast-food restaurant." Although he thought it "has more warm, likable actors and agile performances than this material merits," he felt their "exuberance goes a long way, but not far enough."[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/31/movies/31SOUP.html 'The New York Times' review]
Roger Ebert of the 'Chicago Sun-Times' called the film "a warm human comedy that has no great deep message but simply makes us feel good" and added, "'Tortilla Soup' follows a familiar formula, in which the movie opens with everyone unmarried and we suspect it will have to end with everyone happily paired-off. But the movie is cast so well that the actors bring life to their predictable destinies, and Elizondo casts a kind of magical warm spell over them all."
Awards and nominations
Elizabeth Pea tied with Elpidia Carrillo in 'Bread and Roses' for the ALMA Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, and the film tied with 'Bread and Roses' for the Award for Best Feature Film.
Home media
The film was released on DVD on January 15, 2002. It is in fullscreen format with audio tracks and subtitles in English and Spanish. There are no bonus features.
See also
* History of the Mexican Americans in Los Angeles
References
Buy Tortilla Soup now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 2001