Better Than Chocolate

Better Than Chocolate
Directed by	Anne Wheeler
Produced by	Sharon McGowan Peggy Thompson
Written by	Peggy Thompson
Starring	Wendy Crewson Karyn Dwyer Christina Cox
Music by	Graeme Coleman
Cinematography	Gregory Middleton
Edited by	Alison Grace
Distributed by	Motion International Trimark Pictures
Release dates	February 14, 1999
Running time	102 mins
Country	Canada
Language	English

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

• Karyn Dwyer as Maggie
• Christina Cox as Kim
• Peter Outerbridge as Judy | Jeremy
• Ann-Marie MacDonald as Frances
• Wendy Crewson as Lila | Maggie's Mom
• Kevin Mundy as Paul | Maggie's Brother
• Marya Delver as Carla
• Tony Nappo as Tony
• Jay Brazeau as Mr. Marcus
• Beatrice Zeilinger as Bernice

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.

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. 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." An advertisement in the San Diego Union-Tribune was also removed, due to the word "lesbian" being present on the movie poster.

External links

• Better Than Chocolate at the Canadian Film Reference Library
• Better Than Chocolate at IMDb