Chocolat: A delicious coupling based on the book by Joanne Harris

Johnny Depp has gone out of fashion lately but the old Johnny? The one that starred in Chocolat, one of our favorite book-to-movie adaptations?

Couldn’t you just eat him up?

Based on the book by Joanne Harris, Johnny Depp plays Roux, a passerby of sorts (he docks his houseboat nearby) who drops in on the tiny French village where Juliet Binoche (Vianne Rocher), the mysterious new girl in town, upsets the uptight locals by opening a tantalizing Chocolaterie during Lent. The chocolates are supposedly full of magical elixirs with healing properties. (Sexual healing properties, yes please!)

Winning the Taste Test

Directed by Lasse Holstrom—the guy must be a foodie, he also directed 2014’s foodie’s fave The Hundred-Foot Journey—Chocolat was nominated for Best Picture, Best Screen Adaptation and Best Musical Score. Juliette Binoche was nominated for a Best Actress award while Judi Dench got a nom for playing Vianne’s chocoholic landlady. It didn’t win a thing but it did give us one of Johnny Depp’s tastiest roles.

The impressive cast of Chocolat also includes Alfred Molina, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugh O’Conor, Lena Olin, Peter Stormare, and John Wood, all of whom, along with Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp, received a cast nomination from SAG. 

What do you think of Chocolat?  Delicious? If not, what’s your favorite Johnny Depp role?



Chocolat is available to stream in the usual places: Amazon, YouTube, GooglePlay, Hulu, iTunes, and Vudu. As usual, you’ll have to check Netflix.