In truth, I like frequent doses of sweet romance to balance out my SportsCenter. In truth, I like frequent doses of sweet romance to balance out my SportsCenter. It did start out that way, but I went home believing Hollywood has at least pushed back its own blinders enough to realize that Christians like chocolate, too. Mass. The rest of the villagers follow suit, and indeed, this 1959 town resting on a green hill with a lovely river flowing by is a bastion of inhibition and conformity.
Nobody has too much fun, but everything is tidy and proper.
Played by Juliette Binoche, she is the representation of liberating joy. As the plot unfolds, it is clear she is the answer to the town's misery, giving hope to the victim of a wife-beater, encouraging a lonely elderly man to woo a lonely elderly woman and helping a young boy get to know his grandmother. She is elegant, reminiscent of the 1960s Jacqueline Kennedy in her tailored dresses, and although she has no husband and wanders from town to town, she creates a seemingly healthy environment for her daughter. Reynaud, although still monitoring the village for sin and warning citizens not to enter the chocolate shop, shows a compassionate side when he undertakes the project of rehabilitating the wife-beater. The stuffy mayor seems sincere in wanting this loser to repent and become productive.