The Mistress of Spices (2005)

Saw all the reviews. This movie is a great exposition of Indian culture. Like the complaints about lack of chemistry. No way was Rai going to smooch with that mellecha. It was actually rich, full and deep for those with an interest and understanding of things Indian. And seeing Rai was great. McDermott always seemed like he needed a bath and knew it. You just couldn't grade it the same way as a Hollywood production. It was earthy and sloppy and colorful and confused, complicated, beautiful and revolting just like India. Where else can you get a lot of spice knowledge, see Aishwarya Rai close up and a nice eggplant recipe all in the same movie.

First off, if you read the book and are expecting this movie to be like the book, don't bother watching the movie as you will be disappointed. The only element in this movie that is like the book is that the "magical" woman is sent far away from her homeland, with her vast knowledge of how spices can help others, and her own struggle with keeping with the rules of the spices. Rai is luminous, or more so in this movie, what with those huge green eyes, but how long can we look at her face before we want to say, Move It Along? I liked the fact that I learned something about some of the spices, and the cinematography was nice, but I've seen better, I found this movie to be slow and dull. Maybe if I had not read the book I would have liked it better. But then, if I had not read the book I would not have known a lot of what was going on, as well as WHY it was going on. As I like to say, There are some books that should not be made into movies, and this is one of them.

Let's begin with...the good things, shall we? The cinematography, art direction... it's OK. Visually, I think this movie has succeeded in creating a modern showing and respect for traditions. Beautifully done there, I promise you that your eyes will have a feast on all the spices. That's about all I can say. The characters are confusing, questionable, unrealistic... The whole storyline and concept is magical, mystical and mysterious though it succeeded in being unconvincing. I mean, my favorite movies are Memoirs of a Geisha and Big Fish; all these stories have beautiful story lines, images, fantasies etc. "Mistress of Spices" failed right from the beginning. Overflooded with voice overs, over explained and overdescripted with unnecessary dialogue. I thought it killed the beautiful images seen on screen. Wise words and inspiring lines were thrown casually at inappropriate times. Everything was predictable, foolish and very flat. I feel so terrible for every potentially-good movie I see that turns out to be a flop.

The movie is awful.no two ways about it. The directer and the screenplay writers have completely killed the story. This movie is based on Chitra Devakaruni Banerjee's novel by the same title. Go read the book. Chances are you are going to hate the movie even more after reading the book. I don't even want to waste my time explaining what went wrong with the movie,but this is the worst adaptation of a book i have ever seen. I am amazed how did the writer allow her book to be so badly adapted into a movie. The writers have killed all the essential elements of the book which made the book good. The film,instead is nonsensical and even ridiculous. Don't waste your time watching the movie. buying the book would be a better utilization of your time and money.