Cooking With Stella
Cooking With Stella
Directed by Dilip Mehta
India, 2009
Cornerhouse, 22 April 2011
Still from Cooking With Stella
An irenic comedy that is amiable and friendly, well nigh perfect for a spring afternoon.
It is all about a trickster Indian maid and a Canadian couple who come to stay with her. She’s a fixture, they’re just passing through. So she is dependent on short cons, quick return scams, petty theft… that kind of thing. Her mission is to bleed as much dosh out of them as their gullibility and stupidity will allow, while seeming jolly, cuddly and postcard-ethnic.
All the people are sweet; they smile often and have personalities that are as shiny and smooth as their hair. Perhaps a pinch of dramatic conflict could have been profitably added. To taste, you understand. Or, failing that, characters with a mite more individuality.
As it is, you wouldn’t miss the last bus home to see this film. But it could conceivably cure you of a bad temper, or make you forget (temporarily) about a toothache or a missing filling. These ‘clash of culture’ comedies are good for minor ailments and niggling aches, as is now commonly accepted.
A pleasant, innocuous comedy, but don’t examine its morals and/or subtext too closely.
Explore posts in the same categories: Film reviewTags: Cooking With Stella, Dilip Mehta
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
