Tortilla Soup

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Tortilla Soup ★★½ 2001 (PG-13)

Widower Martin Naranjo (Elizondo) is a Mexican-American patriarch trying to control the lives of his three grown daughters. Schoolteacher Leticia (Pena) fears love has passed her by; successful Carmen (Obradors) questions her career choice; and Maribel (Mello) has graduated from high school and is just eager to leave home. Meanwhile, Martin is a chef who's lost his sense of taste and smell and is being pursued by divorced Hortensia (Welch). Food and family dinners bring the various crises out in the open. And yes, the film is the American version of the 1994 Taiwanese film “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman” with an equally engaging cast. 102m/C VHS, DVD . US Hector Elizondo, Jacqueline Obradors, Elizabeth Pena, Tamara Mello, Nikolai Kinski, Raquel Welch, Paul Rodriguez, Joel Joan, Constance Marie; D: Maria Ripoli; W: Tom Musca, Ramon Menendez, Vera Blasi; C: Xavier Perez Grobet; M: Bill Conti.