What's Cooking? (2000)
- Starring:
- Alfre Woodard, Dennis Haysbert, (more)
- Director(s):
- Gurinder Chadha
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Kenyan-born, London-educated Indian filmmaker Gurinder Chadha follows up on her debut hit Bhaji on the Beach (1994) with this gentle look at multiculturalism in Los Angeles. The film details the lives of four ethnically diverse families -- black, Latino, Jewish, and Asian -- during one frantic Thanksgiving. The film opens with Ronald (Dennis Haysbert), an African-American who works as a spin doctor for the Republican politico; he and his wife Audrey (Alfre Woodard) are in the midst of preparing for their white dinner guests. Meanwhile, at the Latino household, young Anthony Avila (Douglas Spain) invites his womanizing father for Thanksgiving dinner, unbeknownst to his schoolteacher mother Elisabeth (Mercedes Ruehl). At the same time, the Seeling family is confronted with their daughter Rachel's (Kyra Sedwick) lesbianism, when she brings home her lover Carla (Julianna Margulies). Finally, Vietnamese immigrant Trinh Nguyen (Joan Chen) struggles to understand her Americanized children after she discovers condoms in her eldest daughter's jacket and a gun in her son's room. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 109 mins
Complete Cast:
- Alfre Woodard - Audrey Williams
- Ann Weldon - Grace Williams
- Victor Rivers - Javier Avila
- A. Martinez - Daniel
- Maury Chaykin - Herb Seeling
- Julianna Margulies - Carla
- Joan Chen - Trinh Nguyen
- Will Yun Lee - Jimmy Nguyen
- Dennis Haysbert - Ronald Williams
- Mercedes Ruehl - Elizabeth Avila
- Douglas Spain - Anthony Avila
- Lainie Kazan - Ruth Seeling
- Kyra Sedgwick - Rachel Seeling
- Estelle Harris - Aunt Bea
- Kristy Wu - Jenny Nguyen
- Director(s):
- Gurinder Chadha
- Writer(s):
- Gurinder Chadha
- Producer(s):
- Jeffrey Taylor
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