What’s Cooking? is a feature length film that debuted in 2000, starring Julianna Margulies (Carla), Kyra Sedgwick (Rachel), Joan Chen (Jenny), Mercedes Ruhl (Elizabeth), Alfre Woodard (Audrey), each in their own respective storylines. The film covers the lives of four different families during Thanksgiving, more specifically, it covers the family drama and relationship problems that each family faces and how food plays a central role in those relationships.

Each family, one Vietnamese, another Hispanic, one black, and one Jewish, all share their holiday rituals and traditions surrounding Thanksgiving. As the movie progresses, tensions begin to rise, with all the key protagonists facing challenges within their family units. Jenny struggles to tell her parents how she really feels about them invading every aspect of her life, as well as the gun that she found. Carla and Rachel struggle to tell their strictly Jewish family that they are lesbians and that they are also having a baby and intend to start a family. Audrey struggles to cope with her husband’s absence, and his affairs, as her mother-in-law constantly bombards her with questions about him. Elizabeth struggles to deal with her soon-to-be ex-husband, Javier, when he shows up to Thanksgiving unbeknownst to her. The conflicts all escalate in their own storylines, but are suddenly halted when a gunshot rings out, all thanks to Jenny’s little brother who managed to get ahold of a firearm. This brings the conflict to a halt within all the households, and the families eventually begin to make peace with each other when their guests leave.

Most of the film occurs in a small suburb of Los Angeles; however, the name of the town remains unknown. The small residential neighborhood appears to be very affluent, with no run-down houses or signs of crime. However, the main story for each family occurs in their houses, with the exception to this being Jenny, who also is found at their family business, a video store. The entire film occurs in one of these five locations and quickly switches between each location to capture the lives and drama of each family as they convene for the holiday.

Throughout the film, food does not play an active role, rather, it plays a passive role in being the reason why families convene for the holidays. Without Thanksgiving, and food, the movie would not have been able to progress through the storyline in the way that it did, rather, distant relatives and those not in the immediate family would have been left out. However, the film does use food and the dining experience as a way to force families to converge and confront difficult situations, all of which are entirely realistic. The film also does an excellent job of portraying the cultural differences between meals in each family and how they go about preparing dishes for their families.

One theme that plays a critical role throughout the film is the way food acts as a means of communication. The plot and storyline of What’s Cooking? rely entirely on Thanksgiving and family dining to propel the story and brew conflict. Not only does each family have conflict based around food, but they have resolutions based around food as well. The family dining table serves as a neutral ground where everyone can express themselves, talk about their day, and anything that may be on their mind. In the case of Thanksgiving, this is expanded to include distant relatives or those who are seldom seen otherwise. This allows for the families to have a reason to sit down and dine together in good spirits, and attempt to find a resolution to their conflicts.

Another theme that reigns supreme throughout the course of the film is the foodways that each family brings to the table. For Jenny, her family brings their traditional Vietnamese recipes and cooking methods to the dinner table, however, they also attempt to integrate American culture into their dishes by roasting a turkey. Audrey and her family take a soul food approach to Thanksgiving, but add in a few new recipes to the table, much to the chagrin of her mother-in-law. Rachel and her Jewish family take the most traditionally American approach to Thanksgiving but are left with hard discussions and full bellies at the table. Elizabeth’s family, being of Hispanic heritage, take a unique approach to Thanksgiving, preparing tons of dishes that reflect their culture and history. Clearly, the film makes it a point to reflect upon the cultural difference between all American’s and how no one way is right. This demonstration of the unique foodways, albeit rather subtle, is still a crucial part of the film and serves as a symbolic reminder of how diverse we really are.

One final theme that occurs throughout What’s Cooking? is taste. Throughout the film, especially for Audrey, there is a heavy emphasis on the taste, presentation, and method of cooking the food. For instance, Audrey’s mother-in-law has many comments to offer about her preparing mushroom sauce, saying “oyster and shiitake mushroom dressing? Mmmm, never heard of that before” with a snide look on her face (29:29). Another example of taste playing a crucial role in the preparation of food is when Elizabeth is teaching her daughter to prepare a turkey “you put the vegetables right in the roast like that…. Because this makes the gravy incredible” (19:50). While food merely facilitates the development of the film, it is clear that the director and screenwriters made an effort to present that food as realistically as possible. This also demonstrates how each culture has a standard of taste that they value in each dish, and how time and commitment to preparing it properly are crucial and valued. All in all, taste is one of the most critical aspects of food, and the director ensured that taste was considered when filming What’s Cooking? a movie based on Thanksgiving.

Overall, What’s Cooking? is a pretty bad film to watch purely for the entertainment factor. Every scene occurs in one of five places, and there is no typical “action” or “drama” to draw you in. The acting can also be a bit corny in some scenes, but it does convey what it is meant to. However, the symbolic and historical accuracy of the film is to be contended with, whereas different families and their cultures around food are accurately represented by the film. Additionally, there are many hidden pieces of information that are presented throughout, such as when Monica states that she would “like to thank Native Americans who gave us this land in exchange for measles, reservations, and casinos” (1:11:19). This prompts a discussion of the true history of Thanksgiving and what really happened to Native Americans. This helps the film recover some of what is lost regarding entertainment. All in all, I would give the film an overall score of 4/10 due to the very dull nature of the film and the poor acting that is seen in scene after scene.

Citations

Berges, P. (Producer), & Chadha, G. (Director). (2000). What’s Cooking? [Motion Picture]. United States, Because Entertainment

IMDb. (2000). [What’s Cooking?] Retrieved May 13, 2021 from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0197096/

Into Films.(2000). [What’s Cooking?] Retrieved May 13, 2021 from https://www.intofilm.org/films/4325

Mongoose Films. (2000). [What’s Cooking?] Retrieved May 13, 2021 from http://www.haro-online.com/movies/whats_cooking.html

Roe, M. (2019). [Tension at a family meal in What’s Cooking?] Retrieved May 13, 2021 from https://laist.com/news/entertainment/whats-cooking-movies-film-gurinder-chadha-fairfax-district