Tortilla Soup (2001)

Director:

María Ripoll

Writers (WGA):

Hui-Ling Wang (earlier screenplay) and
Ang Lee (earlier screenplay) ...

Release Date:

23 August 2002 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

A comedy to arouse your appetite.

Plot:

A Mexican-American master chef and father to three daughters has lost his taste for food but not for life.

Plot Keywords:

Food | Remake Of Chinese Film | Latino | Remake

Awards:

2 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Jacqueline Obradors	...	Carmen Naranjo
Tamara Mello	...	Maribel Naranjo
Judy Herrera	...	Eden
Nikolai Kinski	...	Andy
Elizabeth Peña	...	Leticia Naranjo
Constance Marie	...	Yolanda
Troy Ruptash	...	Hairdresser
Ken Marino	...	Jeff
Hector Elizondo	...	Martin Naranjo
Marisabel García	...	April
Julio Oscar Mechoso	...	Gomez
Louis Crugnali	...	Catering Assistant
Raquel Welch	...	Hortensia
Joel Joan	...	Antonio Urgell
Paul Rodriguez	...	Orlando Castillo

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content.

Runtime:

102 min | UK:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:M | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | UK:PG | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

El Segundo, California, USA

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Films

Trivia:

The three poems that Leti's "secret admirer" sends her are "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell, "Her Face, Her Tongue, Her Wit" by Arthur Gorges, and "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" by Robert Herrick. The last note is from Titania's speech in Act III, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end when Carmen is leaving the kitchen to serve her family, at first she has one plate with out the lobster, then when she is leaving the kitchen, as she is turning the corner, she has the plate with a lobster. Then, coming out of the kitchen, the lobster has disappeared, then reappears again when she turns towards the tables.

Quotes:

Hortensia: Careful, dear, boys don't like smart-asses.
Maribel Naranjo: No, they just like asses.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Yin shi nan nu (1994)

Soundtrack:

Si Estuvieras Aqui

Could Be (and was!) Much Better Done

This has a wonderful plot. The father of grown daughters suffers the generational clash and cultural clash of old vs. new. This is an hispanic (but English language)remake of the Chinese film "Eat Drink, Man, Women". Both show the writing credits of Ang Lee. This falls far short of the original.

I saw "Eat, Drink..." a few years ago. Although, my wife tends to dislike subtitled movies, she tolerated this one for me. We both loved it. It was well written, directed and acted. "Tortilla Soup" is an ok movie, but failed to keep my attention in the same way that "Eat, Drink..." did. The acting was OK. The direction seemed ok as well. I can't put my finger on why, exactly, but this movie just isn't as good.

Unless you absolutely refuse to view subtitled movies, definitely forego this in favor of "Eat, Drink, Man, Women".