What's Cooking? (2000)
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52% of critics liked it
(66 reviews) -
62% of users liked it
(1,471 ratings)
Kenyan-born, London-educated Indian filmmaker Gurinder Chadha follows up on her debut hit Bhaji on the Beach (1994) with this gentle look at multiculturalism in Los Angeles. The film details the lives of four ethnically diverse families -- black, Latino, Jewish, and Asian -- during one frantic… More Kenyan-born, London-educated Indian filmmaker Gurinder Chadha follows up on her debut hit Bhaji on the Beach (1994) with this gentle look at multiculturalism in Los Angeles. The film details the lives of four ethnically diverse families -- black, Latino, Jewish, and Asian -- during one frantic Thanksgiving. The film opens with Ronald (Dennis Haysbert), an African-American who works as a spin doctor for the Republican politico; he and his wife Audrey (Alfre Woodard) are in the midst of preparing for their white dinner guests. Meanwhile, at the Latino household, young Anthony Avila (Douglas Spain) invites his womanizing father for Thanksgiving dinner, unbeknownst to his schoolteacher mother Elisabeth (Mercedes Ruehl). At the same time, the Seeling family is confronted with their daughter Rachel's (Kyra Sedwick) lesbianism, when she brings home her lover Carla (Julianna Margulies). Finally, Vietnamese immigrant Trinh Nguyen (Joan Chen) struggles to understand her Americanized children after she discovers condoms in her eldest daughter's jacket and a gun in her son's room. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Directed By
- Gurinder Chadha
- Written By
- Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy
PG-13,
- In Theaters
- Jan 20, 2000 Limited
- On DVD
- Apr 10, 2001
- Studio
- Trimark Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, Variety
This valentine to the cultural diversity that defines L.A. is a second-tier Altman (or even Paul Thomas Anderson)a broad, accessible comedy that contrasts four large and dynamic families residing on the same street: Latino, black, Jewish, and Asian.
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Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
Chadha juggles her characters so deftly that we never get tired of any of them and eagerly look forward to returning to each table as her camera jumps around.
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Susan Stark, Detroit News
It wears both its heart and its politics too obviously on its sleeve for comfort.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Because 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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Ty Burr, Entertainment Weekly
Like the meal itself, the movie's both filling and familiar.
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Cast
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Alfre Woodard
as Audrey Williams
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Dennis Haysbert
as Ronald Williams
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Ann Weldon
as Grace Williams
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Mercedes Ruehl
as Elizabeth Avila
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Victor Rivers
as Javier Avila
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Douglas Spain
as Anthony Avila
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A Martinez
as Daniel
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Lainie Kazan
as Ruth Seeling
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Maury Chaykin
as Herb Seeling
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Kyra Sedgwick
as Rachel Seeling
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Julianna Margulies
as Carla
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Estelle Harris
as Aunt Bea
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Joan Chen
as Trinh Nguyen
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Kristy Wu
as Jenny Nguyen
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Will Yun Lee
as Jimmy Nguyen
- François Chau
- Suzanne Carney
