LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Better Than Chocolate |
In the sexy, romantic Comedy Better than Chocolate, Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) meets Kim (Christina Cox) the woman of her dreams just hours before her neurotic mother Lila (Wendy Crewson) and brother (Kevin Mundy) unexpectedly move in with her.
Nineteen-year-old Maggie is exploring her newfound freedom after dropping out of college to become a writer. She works by day at a lesbian bookstore and dances by night at a lively, local girls' club. Maggie hasn't told her mother about her new plans yet. In fact she hasn't told her mother a lot of things. As Lila and Paul get settled in, they meet Maggie's colorful circle of friends: Judy (Peter Outerbridge), a transgendered lesbian nightclub singer: Frances (Ann-Marie MacDonald), Maggie's repressed boss and the object of Judy's affections and Carla (Marya Delver), Maggie's sexually adventurous co-worker. Lila also becomes acquainted with the box under Maggie's bed, momentarily putting aside the chocolates she munches on constantly for comfort in her distress. Maggie worries she may run the risk of losing Kim if she doesn't tell her mother about their relationship. But Lila knows more than Maggie thinks; she has been making some discoveries of her own and finds that happiness comes in many different sizes, shapes... and speeds. With its playful eroticism and provocative humor, Better than Chocolate has won over film festival audiences worldwide. The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival before screening at the Seattle International Film Festival and many gay and lesbian film festivals. It has won the Millivres Multimedia Audience Award for Most Popular Film at the 1999 London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and was the winner of the Best Feature Film Audience Award at Inside Out, the 1999 Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. After collaborating on the engaging, nostalgic family film The Lotus Eaters, producer Sharon McGowan and co-producer/screenwriter Peggy Thompson were ready to continue their collaboration with a more intimate project. Inspired by their lesbian friends' bittersweet stories of their relationships with their mothers, McGowan and Thompson decided to write a romantic comedy about two young women, a mother and a circle of quirky, colorful friends. Says Thompson, "The stories our friends would tell us were hilarious and often painful tales, told with tremendous affection. Even though the mothers often freaked out (about their daughters' sexuality), the stores were filled with love and longing and a great sense of fun." Thompson continues, "We wanted to take the romantic comedy genre and thrust it into the heart of the traumatic but funny stories of our friends. Thank God we've entered a whole new wave of gay and lesbian filmmakinglet's keep it light, keep it romantic and have some fun." |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 9, No. 11, Aug. 13, 1999 |