Better Than Chocolate

Better Than Chocolate

Starring Karyn Dwyer, Christina Cox, Peter Outerbridge, Wendy Crewson

Directed by Anne Wheeler

In the late 90s there was still a negative stigma associated with the LGBTQ community, and as inroads were being created (especially with Ellen DeGeneres coming out in 1997), there still wasn't a lot of representation in films apart from the generic gay best friend.  Anne Wheeler's "Better Than Chocolate" was released in 1999, and while it was a small, independent Canadian film, it still portrayed the world of the lesbian community with a lighthearted nature and introduced viewers to a unique group of women with their own strengths and weaknesses, and while today it seems rather dated and over-the-top, it helped to show the world a different viewpoint they hadn't seen previously.

Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) was a college student preparing for a career in law when she decided to drop out and spend her time at the local lesbian bar and working at a lesbian bookstore run by Frances (Ann-Marie MacDonald).  One night the sweet girl meets tough-as-nails Kim (Christina Cox), and its love at first sight.  They move in together and all is going well until Maggie is visited by her recently-divorced mother Lila (Wendy Crewson) and her brother Paul (Kevin Mundy), and decide to stay with them for awhile - and Lila doesn't know Maggie is gay.  Maggie and Kim carry on their relationship in secret, and during this time Lila is befriended by Maggie's transgender friend Judy (Peter Outerbridge), and all their lives interconnect in deeply personal and humorous ways.

Watching this film in 1999, it might've been seen as a revolutionary look in the lives of ordinary women living their own lives, but now it's extremely dated and lowbrow, and the characters are more caricatures than fully-developed people.  There's no real emotional depth given, even at the most dramatic and tense moments, and it follows a stale, typical storyline that we've come to know in several other films like this.  The concept is so heavy-handed it's like being hit in the head over and over again with a rubber mallet and telling us to appreciate the uniqueness of what we're seeing even though we've seen it all before. 

Even though they were given very little to work with, the film's charm comes with the actors who dedicate themselves to their roles.  Karyn Dwyer plays Maggie with a free-spirited grace that's infectious.  Christina Cox (who looks like a young Charlize Theron) is your typical rough girl with a heart of gold.  Peter Outerbridge (in one of the first major roles for a transgender) gives Judy a decently deep performance.  Ann-Marie MacDonald plays the typical angsty bookstore owner, and Wendy Crewson plays Maggie's mother with an odd sense of naivety that's extremely laughable, but also kind of sweet.

The story unfolds as you expect it to, as you impatiently await for the grand climax that's glaringly obvious from the start, and hope that something poignant would come out of it.  Even though I just saw this film, I'm already starting to forget most of it, but I did appreciate the dedication of the cast to give a unique worldview that wasn't mainstream in 1999 - so points for that.

Offering very little to be remembered, "Better Than Chocolate" doesn't live up to its name, as I feel that chocolate is better than this typical, formulaic film.

The Score: D+