86
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertLike Water for Chocolate creates its own intense world of passion and romance, and adds a little comedy and a lot of quail, garlic, honey, chiles, mole, cilantro, rose petals and corn meal.
- 100Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonThe title may be a mouthful but Like Water for Chocolate is a feast for the soul. Hauntingly and exquisitely prepared, this Mexican adult fairy tale is garnished with mystery and wonder.
- 90The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinFood and passion create a sublime alchemy in Like Water for Chocolate, a Mexican film whose characters experience life so intensely that they sometimes literally smolder.
- 89Austin ChronicleAustin ChronicleLike Water for Chocolate, a simmering cauldron of romance and revolution, passion and purity, mysticism and witticism, is a powerful and heady brew.
- 80EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoAn enchanting story played out by a great female cast, particularly Cavazos as the poor Tita, and unique visuals from Arau. With equal parts melodrama, comedy, tragedy and cookery, Like Water For Chocolate adapts well from script to screen, unlike most Hollywood attempts.
- 80Time OutTime OutIt's overlong, but that reflects the nature of Mexican cooking: like water for chocolate, which must be brought to the boil three times, the characters continually bubble and boil over.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliOdd, playful, and sweet. It equates the boiling point of water for hot chocolate with the height of passion. With occasional surrealistic fantasy sequences interspersed between the commonplace goings-on of regular lives, the film weaves a subtle spell of enchantment -- until a disappointing conclusion.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThough one wonders if Arau couldn't have found more visual parallels for Esquivel's narrative, overall the film is a witty, charming diversion that struck a chord with audiences.
- 67Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanWith its cowlike Cinderella heroine pining for forbidden love while she slaves over her bewitching recipes (and knits a shawl as long as a city block), Like Water for Chocolate offers old-fashioned romantic masochism-Harlequin pulp-dressed up in a magical-realist veneer. It makes being a happy homemaker seem wondrous again.
- 60Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleyIn the end, Like Water for Chocolate is an overwrought potboiler that punishes Tita for her sexual freedom.