"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 flawlessthere'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 nownot 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)
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