Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Retired and widowed Chinese master chef Chu lives in modern day Taipei, with his three attractive daughters, all of whom are unattached. Soon, each daughter encounters a new man in their lives. When these new relationships blossom, stereotypes are broken and the living situation within the family changes.
Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman is a distinctively crafted family drama anchored by its extraordinary opening cooking sequence and its use of food as emotional language — a genuinely singular cinematic voice that sets it apart from comparable ensemble domestic dramas. The plot weaves multiple romantic and generational storylines with warmth and quiet wit, though it occasionally feels schematic as each daughter gets her arc resolved. Acting is solid and naturalistic across the ensemble, with Lang Hsiung dignified and compelling as Chef Chu, though no single performance is transcendent. Cinematography is clean and elegant, with the food sequences particularly well-shot, but the overall visual approach is functional rather than dazzling. The ending delivers a satisfying emotional twist involving the father that reframes the whole film cleverly, though it wraps up perhaps a little too neatly. Its novelty comes from the deeply specific Taiwanese cultural texture and the way Lee makes cuisine the film's true protagonist — an approach that feels wholly original and unmistakable.