Maggie, the woman at the center of the story, lives in Vancouver and works at a gay and lesbian bookstore. The story begins with her meeting Kim as she is passing through Vancouver. A romance quickly develops, complete with some rather hot, though discreetly photographed, love scenes. Things get more complicated when Maggie's newly-divorced mother, Lila, decides to come to town, bringing along Maggie's younger brother as well.
There's a lot of good stuff going on here. Maggie and Kim are fun to watch together; they don't always get along, but it's clear that there's a strong core of affection there. Maggie's family gradually gets introduced to her lifestyle; their personal growth as they are confronted with people and situations outside their past experiences is a real strength.
The main weakness of Better Than Chocolate is that it sometimes tries to do too much. With all the characters and their interactions, plus a subplot involving the bookstore, things get muddled at times.
The bisexual woman is a mix of good and bad. The bad: she plays to the stereotype of bisexuals as sexually aggressive omnivores. The good: the film doesn't believe that this is a bad thing!
There's a lot of good stuff going on here. Maggie and Kim are fun to watch together; they don't always get along, but it's clear that there's a strong core of affection there. Maggie's family gradually gets introduced to her lifestyle; their personal growth as they are confronted with people and situations outside their past experiences is a real strength.
The main weakness of Better Than Chocolate is that it sometimes tries to do too much. With all the characters and their interactions, plus a subplot involving the bookstore, things get muddled at times.
The bisexual woman is a mix of good and bad. The bad: she plays to the stereotype of bisexuals as sexually aggressive omnivores. The good: the film doesn't believe that this is a bad thing!