THE Hundred-FOOT JOURNEY (2014) – My rating: 8/10

This is a feel good movie.  Helen Mirren is amazing as a French restaurant owner (Madame Mallory) in France.  After years of enjoying no immediate surrounding competition, an East Indian family headed by Papa (Om Puri) with an extraordinary gifted chef, Hassan (Manish Dayal), takes ownership of an old defunct restaurant 100 feet across from her.  Sparks start flying as soon as she discovers that the new restaurant was going to be real competition.  Anyone who follows Helen Mirren’s career knows she is an outstanding actress and can and does get the very best of her acting abilities from every movie she’s a part of.  She comes across exactly as she should in The Hundred- Foot Journey; stubborn, heart felt and classy.

100′ across the walkway is the new family that had to flee their home in India because of dangerous uprisings that wiped out their entire livelihood, including Mama (Juhi Chawla) wife and mother and teacher of the fine culinary art of Indian cooking.  The gifted chef is their son, Hassan who becomes smitten with Madame Mallory’s Su-Chef, Marguerite (Charlotte LeBon).  It is magic watching these 2 families struggle to make their circumstances work in a world where competition is fierce and winning is everything.  I really enjoyed this movie and think is sends life lessons that everyone can benefit from, especially at a time when WW3 seems to be lurking around the corner.  It’s definitely worth taking the time out to see.

FROZEN RIVER (2008) – My rating 10/10

Frozen River is one of the most significant, heart felt and emotionally stirring movies I’ve seen.  Two women with equally profound hardship stories end up offsetting their circumstances by border smuggling Indians across the frozen water of the St. Lawrence River.  The performance by Melissa Leo is  convincingly well acted.  Her character, Ray Eddy has two sons that her husband, a gambler, has walked out on with all the money she had in this world.  With no food, and a low paying, part time job, she looks elsewhere to make up the difference.  Ray comes across Lila Littlewolf,  a Mohawk women who is driving Ray’s husband’s car.  Lila’s new born baby was taken from her by her  mother-in-law because Lila is too poor to take care of the infant.  Lea also has a low paying job with no prospects of doing any better for herself.

This story has emotional ties between the two women and leads you on a journey that you have to see to believe.  I guarantee your emotions will be tried in this movie with a very different flavor.  I highly recommend you see this movie by any means.  It’s worth your time.  I rated this movie so high because it has a lesson to be learned and it’s highly entertaining.