Stars: Wendy Crewson, Karyn Dwyer, Christina Cox, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Marya Delver

Director: Anne Wheeler

Summary: Maggie works in a gay bookshop in Vancouver and is having a relationship with Kim, a van-dweller. Maggie's mother and brother decide to come for a visit but they know nothing of her sexuality...

Life is going great for Maggie. She has recently moved out on her own and found the woman of her dreams. However, things quickly change when her mother and brother are forced to move into Maggie's tiny loft sublet with her. All the freedom and space she has gained is compromised, and she believes she must keep her blossoming affair a secret. But it's the clandestine romance that inadvertently introduces her family to a host of new experiences, many of which are better than chocolate. Karin Dwyer and Christina Cox are terrific as the young lovers, and Wendy Crewson is splendid as Maggie's mother, who might finally be ready to break out and start having some fun in her life.

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Many lesbian movies are long on charm and short on production values; Better Than Chocolatehas a solid dose of both and steamy sex scenes to boot. Our heroine Maggie (Karyn Dwyer), a clerk at a lesbian bookshop, meets footloose butch Kim (Christina Cox) and, after Kim's van is towed away, they move in together. Unfortunately for their romantic bliss, Maggie's mother, Lila (Wendy Crewson), and teenage brother move in that very evening thanks to Lila's impending divorce. But what really complicates matters is that Maggie can't bring herself to come out to her mother. Even when she tries, Lila steamrollers through the conversation, as if she knows what's coming and doesn't want to hear it. Interwoven with this is the struggle of Judy (Peter Outerbridge), a male-to-female transsexual who's in love with the bookshop's owner, Frances (Ann-Marie MacDonald), who's freaking out because customs officers are holding a list of books at the border that they claim are obscene. The overlapping plots are deftly juggled, the personal and political are compellingly interwoven, and, most satisfying of all, the characters have problems that aren't going to be easily resolved. A handful of candy-coloured lip-synching musical numbers give the movie some flash and the sex scenes give it some heat, but it's the elements of sorrow and ambiguity that really make the joy in Better Than Chocolatesomething to savour. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	4:3
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Chapter Indexes, Theatrical Trailer
Year:	1999
Release Date:	January 21, 2002
Runtime:	97 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	M M D 007
Keywords:	Better, Than, General, Chocolate, Drama
Genre:	Drama