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Better Than Chocolate

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Better Than Chocolate
Directed byAnne Wheeler
Written byPeggy Thompson
Produced bySharon McGowan
Peggy Thompson
StarringWendy Crewson
Karyn Dwyer
Christina Cox
CinematographyGregory Middleton
Edited byAlison Grace
Music byGraeme Coleman
Distributed byMotion International
Trimark Pictures
Release date
February 14, 1999
Running time
102 mins
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Better Than Chocolate is a 1999 Canadian romantic comedy movie shot in Vancouver directed by Anne Wheeler.

Plot

Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) has recently moved out on her own, and has started a relationship with another woman, Kim (Christina Cox). However, Maggie's mother Lila (Wendy Crewson) and brother, who are forced to move into her loft sublet with her, are unaware that she is a lesbian. Maggie's freedom is compromised, and she believes she must keep her blossoming affair a secret. However, the clandestine romance introduces Maggie's family to a host of new experiences, many of which are "better than chocolate".

The cast also includes Ann-Marie MacDonald as Frances, the owner of a lesbian bookstore where Maggie works, and Peter Outerbridge as Judy, a trans woman with a crush on Frances.

Cast

Awards

The film won numerous awards at film festivals around the world and was ranked 31st on the Hollywood Reporter's Top 200 independent films list of 1999. It is one of Canada's highest grossing films of all time according to the Cannes Film Festival Website.[citation needed]

Background

The film takes its name from a lyric in Sarah McLachlan's song "Ice Cream", "Your love is better than chocolate". Veena Sood, the sister of McLachlan's then-husband Ashwin Sood, has a small role in the film as a religious protestor.

The plot line about the bookstore is a fairly direct reference to Vancouver's Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium and its travails with Canada Customs. The bookstore is thanked in the credits.[1] Ann-Marie MacDonald, who plays the bookstore's owner, is a well-known Canadian author.

The movie poster, which shows two women embracing and one woman's naked back, was banned by the Hong Kong Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority as it was deemed "offensive to public morality, decency and ordinary good taste."[2] An advertisement in the San Diego Union-Tribune was also removed, due to the word "lesbian" being present on the movie poster.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ IMDb: Better Than Chocolate
  2. ^ Statement for the decision on a poster for a Category III film
  3. ^ San Diego Union-Tribune Refuses to Run The Word 'Lesbian' in Advertising
  4. ^ Hong Kong Orders Posters For Movie Removed
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