Search - What's Cooking? on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Movie Release: 2000 DVD Release: 04/10/2001 Format: DVD - Letterbox for TV Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 49 mins Studio: Lions Gate Members Wishing: 2 Genres: Comedy Drama, Americana, Family Drama, Domestic Comedy See Also: What's Cooking?

Kenyan-born, London-educated Indian filmmaker Gurinder Chadha follows up on her debut hit Bhaji on the Beach (1994) with this gentle look at multiculturalism in Los Angeles. The film details the lives of four ethnically diverse families -- black, Latino, Jewish, and Asian -- during one frantic Thanksgiving. The film opens with Ronald (Dennis Haysbert), an African-American who works as a spin doctor for the Republican politico; he and his wife Audrey (Alfre Woodard) are in the midst of preparing for their white dinner guests. Meanwhile, at the Latino household, young Anthony Avila (Douglas Spain) invites his womanizing father for Thanksgiving dinner, unbeknownst to his schoolteacher mother Elisabeth (Mercedes Ruehl). At the same time, the Seeling family is confronted with their daughter Rachel's (Kyra Sedwick) lesbianism, when she brings home her lover Carla (Julianna Margulies). Finally, Vietnamese immigrant Trinh Nguyen (Joan Chen) struggles to understand her Americanized children after she discovers condoms in her eldest daughter's jacket and a gun in her son's room. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Alfre Woodard - Audrey Williams
Dennis Haysbert - Ronald Williams
Ann Weldon - Grace Williams
Mercedes Ruehl - Elizabeth Avila
Victor Rivers - Javier Avila
Kyra Sedgwick - Rachel Seeling
Julianna Margulies - Carla
Joan Chen - Trinh Nguyen
Kristy Wu - Jenny Nguyen
Will Yun Lee - Jimmy Nguyen

Gurinder Chadha's Thanksgiving film What's Cooking? comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The closed-captioned English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1. English, Spanish, and French subtitles are accessible. Supplementary materials include a theatrical trailer and recipes for the delicious dishes created during the film. This is a good disc from Trimark that won't make mouths water, but will satisfy a hunger for warm-hearted family fare. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide