What’s Cooking?
Directed by Gurinder Chadha.
Starring Alfre Woodard, Kyra Sedgwick and Mercedes Ruehl.
I’m American. Being from America, I celebrate Thanksgiving. The only thing bigger than the Thanksgiving feast on Thanksgiving Day is the anxious mixture of loyalty to one’s family and duty toward tradition — love and exasperation. Nearly every American movie I’ve seen about Thanksgiving is founded upon this tradition. In What’s Cooking? there’s a mother (Alfre Woodard) driven to a near-nervous breakdown by her mother-in-law, a child who is no longer a child (Kyra Sedgwick) coping with her alternative lifestyle in the realm of her childhood home, a father using the holiday to win back his wife (Mercedes Ruehl) despite his infidelities and a family’s peace being interrupted by the rebellious teenagers (Kristy Wu and Jimmy Pham) of a new generation. In short, no one is normal and it all comes to a climax as the turkey hits the table. So I can say I’ve seen it before, I’ve lived it before, at least twenty-seven times. But what sets What’s Cooking? apart from the typical Thanksgiving theme is it’s international flavour.
Along with a camera-eye view of Mexican, Vietnamese, African-American and Jewish foods blending in complete contrast, but quite sumptuously, I’m sure, with the traditional tinned cranberry sauce, stuffing and turkey, Gurinder Chadha lets us peek at these cultures which blend in amazing consistency with the American culture. No one is normal. Every family has its problems. And everyone eats, regardless of politics, bitterness, guilt or pride, regardless of race, religion or background, with the family. It is America.
The stories are as obvious as the outcome but these are endearing stories. I left the theatre longing for lunch, a grand lunch, and longing for my family with all of its quirks and never-ending surprises. No matter where you’re from, you might very well leave the theatre feeling just the same.
Heather Johnson
