150 Word Review: 'The Taste Of Things' (2023)

C'est bon

Photo: Gaumont

The elaborate, often silent, preparation of food in The Taste of Things by middle-aged lovers Benoît Magimel as a well-to-do gourmet and Juliette Binoche as his brilliant cook are as intense and erotic as any sex scene: the duo stuff, savor, and spoon sauces over all kinds of flesh.

This is a sensual, thoughtful movie about pleasure and the good things in life: good food, friends, and conversation. It's a love story—romantic and platonic.

Juliette Binoche is enthralling as a poised and willful servant and gastronome. But when isn't this Oscar-winner enthralling? As an actor, Binoche specializes in characters with hidden depths. In The Taste of Things, her smiles tell stories. Director Tran Anh Hung transforms an intimate country kitchen into the center of the universe where two wise old gods play and create. Magimel and Binoche are both pungent actors who, when combined, harmonize perfectly, like garlic and thyme.

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