75
Though 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.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
80
An 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.
100
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
The 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.
75
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Odd, 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.
90
The New York Times by Janet Maslin
Food 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.
67
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
With 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.
60
Washington Post by Rita Kempley
In the end, Like Water for Chocolate is an overwrought potboiler that punishes Tita for her sexual freedom.
100
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Like 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.