So I just watched a movie about two people who loved each other but were not able to be together because of Tita's vile mother who insisted she spend the rest of her life as a slave to her to perpetuate some depraved tradition. As if forbidding her daughter to marry isn't bad enough, the wretch of a woman insists Pedro marries Tita's sister just to torment Tita even more. Pedro agrees and justifies that it's to be close to Tita. God knows why he couldn't just run away with her instead. Guess it wouldn't have been much of a movie then? Tita's mother has a finely tuned radar that can detect any time Tita is remotely happy and puts a stop to it immediately. This includes sensing in her sleep that Pedro and Tita are in the same room as each other and coming between any attempts for them to be close to each other, including ultimately sending Tita's sister and Pedro away. Tita finally breaks down and is taken away from the ranch by a nerdy doctor dude who takes care of her and eventually falls in love with her. She seems to appreciate the security he offers but is not in love with him. Long, long story short, Pedro and Tita never actually get to enjoy their love. Even after Tita's mother dies (best part of whole movie), Tita's sister starts to assume her identity, down to the hairstyle and tells Tita to back off despite the fact that she stole her boyfriend in the first place and Pedro doesn't have an ounce of love for her. She prefers everyone around her to be miserable, much like her mother. 22 years later, when Tita's sister is also dead, Pedro and Tita finally have a chance to be together and their love literally burns them alive at their first attempt. The end? Okay. As if watching Tita being tormented her whole life wasn't enough, she never got the chance to be happy and experience love in the end. Very unfair conclusion for the lead character and a waste of my time as a viewer. If you're looking for a feel good movie or anything with an ending that doesn't completely infuriate you, steer clear.

I didn't read the book, so if you've read the book, you might like this movie less than I did. The story is a good folk tale, and gives one insight into some aspects of Latino culture (i.e., traditions & so much more are often passed down through food; the strange traditions regarding family duty, even in the face of common sense). While watching the movie, I suspected the book is better, and I have been told by others that it is. The actor who played John was very exaggerated, although I don't know if that was done on purpose. Further, I had problems with Pedro's initial decision (the big one); as Tita later points out, there seem to have been many other decisions that would have made much more sense. Warning: this is a chick flick! In the end, though, my identity as a hispanic edged out my identity as a manly man, so I consider this movie worth watching, since the story is worth having in your cultural hard-drive.For more reviews and a kickass podcast, check out: www.livemancave.com

After having read the book from which this is adapted, this movie deserves not the praise it received. First and foremost, the movie completely misconstrues the message of the book. The book stresses the importance of FOOD, and how the food is Tita's method of both coping with her realities and her method of communicating the feelings that are being suppressed by Mama Elena. In the movie, the beauty of the food is drowned by a disgusting, almost stereotypical soap-opera-like drama. The acting is cheesy, at best, and the feelings between Tita and Pedro are poorly conveyed as love. Rather, they are portrayed by a simple, unforgiving lust. Also, the last scene was TERRIBLE. The last scene is supposed to contain a grand crescendo of feelings that ultimately lead to Pedro's, and the Tita's, deaths. However, it simply appears that Pedro has an orgasm and then faints. There is absolutely no way, without having prior knowledge of the story, to correlate between this scene and the matches theory. Also, the way in which Tita days poorly illustrates the match theory. It seems like she just eats the matches and then dies. By this, however, the intense emotion required to kindle the inner matches is just not there. By its lonesome, this movie receives a 3 (soap opera quality crap).

Although this movie is entertaining, it lacks the same in depth emotions evicted by Tita's cooking. The majority of the food is filmed before each scene and then forgotten about until some characters emotions tie into the dish. The music of the Mexican revolution is stereotypical to say the least. John and Pedro are both excellently cast with John portraying the awkward academic very well even down to his last sullen moment as a lonely man. Pedro ignites the "Latin passion" on the screen with every lustful encounter with Tita. Mama Elena is scripted perfectly however her character never makes you hate her as much as any viewer/reader should. In conclusion Like Water for Chocolate is an entertaining film (if you enjoy reading your movies) even without reading the book.