Better Than Chocolate

Synopsis:

Not long after moving into her own place, Maggie finds herself with two unsolicited roommates: her recently divorced mother, Lila, and her young brother. The timing is especially bad, considering Maggie has fallen hard for an attractive woman, Kim, only hours before they move in. What could be a nonissue becomes increasingly complicated — since Maggie’s family is unaware of her sexual orientation, and Maggie is not open to sharing that information.

Quick Thoughts:

For years, “Better Than Chocolate” was one of the few lesbian films that I had watched early on and made it into my collection. Perhaps it was my collegiate group of friends regularly watching and talking about the film. Or perhaps that’s because was a queer comedy that made waves when it came out in 1999. But there’s no question that this is quite a cute and romantic lesbian film! Is it perfect? Not exactly. There is a LOT to this story, with multiple side-stories intertwining – it’s easy to get lost a bit and as such, some characters may come across as superficial. However, amid the cliche’s (which are a tad dated twenty years later) is a rather broad and inclusive spectrum of difficulties that LGBTQ folks face: transphobia, homophobia, government censorship of “obscene” material, and more. All of this is woven into a slightly fantastical & idealistic film that nails some great comedy and is simply a fun queer comedy film to watch. If you have not yet seen “Better Than Chocolate”, I highly recommend it!