Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

magicinthenight "What's Cooking?" is one of the most overlooked films in history! The powerhouse actors portraying gentle characters were magnificent. The way the stories perfectly combined shocked me, and the movie kept me very intrigued and put a smile on my face all way through. In LA, on Thanksgiving day, four multi-cultural families deal with their dysfunctional relatives.In the Avila family, a Hispanic-American clan, Elizabeth's (Mercedes Ruehl) son, Anthony (Douglas Spain), invites his estranged father Javier (Victor Rivers) to dinner. Meanwhile, her daughter Gina (Isidra Vega) has invited her boyfriend Jimmy (Will Yun Lee), who is Chinese.In the Nguyen family, an Asian-American clan, Trinh (Joan Chen) is always in a battle with her daughter Jenny (Kristy Wu), who has found a gun under the bed of her brother's (Brennan Louie) bed.In the Williams family, an African-American clan, Audrey's (Alfre Woodard) **SPOILER** husband Ronald (Dennis Haysbert) was having an affair at work. Meanwhile, their estranged son Michael (Eric George) has quit college and come home for Thanksgiving, to celebrate with Grandma Williams (Ann Weldon) and the Moore family (Shareen Mitchell, Gregory Itzin, Mariam Parris).In the Seelig family, a Jewish-American clan, Rachel's (Kyra Sedgwick) parents (Lainie Kazan, Maury Chaykin) can't deal with her being a lesbian with Carla (Julianna Margulies), and must hide the secret from Aunt Bea and Uncle David (Estelle Harris, Ralph Manza).I must begin by saying all of the principle actors, except Kristy Wu and Julianna Margulies, did an amazing job.Mercedes Ruehl gave a stunning performance as Elizabeth, a woman who couldn't go back to her cheating husband. Douglas Spain and Isidra Vega did excellent work in their supporting roles, while Will Yun Lee brought smiles to your face all the time.Joan Chen was magnificently wonderful as a Vietnamese woman who wants to stick to her Asian customs. Kristy Wu is a terrible actress, but her acting doesn't rain on this parade of a movie. Brennan Louie had a truly minor role, so there's not much I can say about him.Alfre Woodard was so damn amazing that I was about to lose my mind, she was really good. Dennis Haysbert was nothing out of the ordinary, but decent. Eric George had a very minor role also, but he did good. Ann Weldon was very entertaining and I would have loved to see more of her. Gregory Itzin and Mariam Parris had small roles, but Shareen Mitchell, in the small amount of time she was on, was jaw-dropping amazing and a huge scene stealer! Kyra Sedgwick is a great actress and she really pulls this role off. Lainie Kazan and Maury Chaykin are absolutely flawless—there's no way you can't love them. Julianna Margulies did a horrible job. She was obnoxious, stupid, and one-dimensional. Estelle Harris and Ralph Manza had small roles, but they acted them out hilariously.I must say the writers of the film handled each family very well, never giving the audience too much of one. Thanksgiving is a difficult time and just because it's Thanksgiving now—not everything is all happy and peachy. The film portrayed that message greatly.The most intriguing family was the Williams one. It had very well-put together plot lines and it was delightful to watch the actors, because they all did wonderful. They were the sort of 'perfect' family that had it's problems revealed piece by piece.The next most intriguing family was the Seelig one. Kyra Sedgwick was the glue of it and everyone, except Julianna Margulies like said before, turned in really good performances. The lesbian issue is handled very well and there are some gentle scenes of joy.The third most intriguing family out of the four was the Avila one. Mercedes Ruehl left a huge impression in her role and so did every single person that had anything to do with the Avila plot. The story-line is interesting, although at times there are senseless scenes.The least intriguing family is the Nguyen one. It's the least intriguing, but still very intriguing. Joan Chen's performance raises it to a solid 8 on my list and the supporting cast, besides the intolerable Kristy Wu, did great. The stories were a bit dramatized, but it was still good.ALL IN ALL: "What's Cooking?" is my favorite movie of 2000 and if there's only one movie you can see from that year…make it this one! It's Flawless! 10 Thumbs Up (Out Of 10)

gerry-russell-139 With the exception of A WALK ON THE MOON starring Diane Lane and Viggo Mortensen, this film is easily my favorite indie film. I first saw it four years ago when my sister was home from San Diego state for Easter vacation and we rented the DVD the following day from Blockbuster. Some of the most talented names in film (Oscar-nominee Alfre Woodard, Oscar-winner Mercedes Rheul, Lainie Kazan and Joan Chen) and up-and-coming talent (Dennis Haysbert of FAR FROM HEAVEN and the ALLSTATE commercials) star in this terrific ensemble film with a brilliant script and first-rate performances most notably from Woodard, Rheul and Kyra Segewick. The story (set throughout the Fairfax district of L.A.) revolves around four different families (focusing primarily on the women of each) all of four different ethnicities: one African-American, one Hispanic, one Jewish and one Vietnamese and the family conflicts they deal with over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Woodard's family is dealing with a marriage that is on the brink of a divorce with two subplots of an extremely irritating mother-in-law (Ann Weldon) and a troubled son in his early twenties; Rheul's family is confronting the fact that she has separated from her husband (Victor Rivers) and has moved on with her life and has a promising relationship with her boyfriend (A Martinez) despite what her son wants. Kazan's family is up in arms with her daughter (Segewick) involved in a lesbian relationship with her recently married life-partner (Julianna Margulies). Chen's family is most definitely the most dysfunctional while their daughter is involved in a relationship with a young white boy, their eldest son uses his midterms schedule as a false pretense to avoid coming home for the holidays and is seeing Rhuel's daughter and Chen's teenage son has been suspended from school for stealing a test while also being dangerously involved with a gang. One highlight of the films is where Woodard's friends come over to her house for Thanksgiving dinner and their rebellious, uptight teenage daughter wants nothing to do with any of them. When confronted by Woodard's mother-in-law about what she and Woodard's little daughter and her friend are doing, she states that "we're playing Thanksgiving... she's the mommy, she's the daddy and I'm the alcoholic, cult-worshiping, Satanic stepmother!" The story moves in a very transitional pattern alternating between the four families with very interesting scenarios for each. Gurinder Chadha (director of BEND IT LIKE BEKHAM and the upcoming BRIDE AND PREJUDICE) has really outdone herself with the unique and oft-times exasperating ties that bring these families together. Another engaging aesthetic in this film (possibly the most important) is the incredibly diverse variety of delicious food each family cooks throughout the midsection of the film in preparation for the holiday tradition. You can almost smell the enticing scents of the apple and pumpkin pies and the turkey and mashed potatoes as well as the Asian and Hispanic dishes. The special features on the DVD of the films offers six different recipes as they were used in the actual film.This is one film that my whole family and I love to watch every year on Thanksgiving and one we watch throughout the year as well. Go rent it sometime this weekend and see what you think. I really think you'll love it!

larrysmile1 I just saw this movie for the first time at the Roger Ebert Fifth Annual Overlooked Film Festival at the historic 1,500 seat Virginia Theatre in Champaign, Illinois.What a delightful and unexpected movie story! The story highlights the lives of four families who are celebrating their version of a traditional Thanksgiving. This is unlike no other Thanksgiving movie you have ever seen. Almost 1,500 theatre goers laughed and were awed by this performance.You have to see it to believe it. The story is full of surprises -- some pleasant and some unpleasant.The entire acting ensemble was perfectly selected and fitted their roles well.I would like to see more movies of this quality made.Three Cheers for director Gurinda Chadha who also co-wrote this is screenplay with her husband, Paul Mayeda Berges.See this movie and recommend it to your friends and family.

tedg Spoilers herein.I got around to viewing this film recently, as it was on two of my `too see' lists: the Food and Joan Chen lists.Food films are a new genre that can impress. `Eat Drink Man Woman,' `In the Mood for Love' and `Big Night' were successes. The images touch sensory memories that extend the visual vocabulary. It is both enjoyable and intellectually satisfying. But this pedestrian film fails to evoke those memories.The Joan Chen connection seems one worth following. She is sort of a minor phenomenon, which I first noticed with `Autumn in NY.' that film's subject was just as unremarkable as this. But it was so well constructed I spend all my viewing time marveling at the craftsmanship. As an actress, she's understated -- a contrast to the hispanically demonstrable Ruhl, but very apt. A study in dramatizing the Asian woman which is quite a challenge since the starting point is deliberately undramatic. I think this same challenge was behind `Fargo,' the notion of drama among a practiced non-dramatic people.Chen intrigues me. I'm going to check out her `Send Down Girl' and get back to you.