Lacey Chabert

  • Love, Romance & Chocolate (2019)

    Love, Romance & Chocolate (2019)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, August 2021) Straight from the Hallmark romantic movie factory comes Love, Romance & Chocolate, with an utterly unremarkable narrative that manages to benefit from being set in Bruges and focusing on generous helping of chocolate. Lacey Chabert stars as an accountant with serious kitchen skills travelling to Belgium and getting involved with a chocolatier as he aims to win a contest organized by Belgian royalty. The romantic plot is, as usual, completely formulaic — Hallmark wouldn’t have it otherwise. But as it happens on their better movies, the setting and details do manage to make it more compelling. Generous depictions of chocolate-making pepper the entire film, clearly aiming for a chocoholic audience. The added appeal of the Belgian surroundings also does help — for once, we’re out of the typical Midwestern small-town setting and that works to Love, Romance & Chocolate. No, it’s not great art: the blandness of the dialogue and the familiarity of the plot limit the film’s effectiveness. But within these restrictions, it does manage to distinguish itself better than many of its Hallmark equivalents.

  • Daddy Day Care (2003)

    Daddy Day Care (2003)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, October 2013 or thereabouts) As someone who’s had to recently real with daycare selection and taking care of an active toddler, you’d expect my reaction to Daddy Day Care to be a bit more sympathetic than usual.  And you’d be right: While I don’t usually have much patience for broad kiddy-friendly comedies where once-proudly-anti-establishment comedians now kowtow to the lowest possible common denominator (Edide Murphy’s career dive has been something, right?), I had a bit of a good time watching this film, even when unable to give it my full attention.  The gags aren’t meant to be sophisticated, the bare-bone plot isn’t supposed to be scrutinized and the most interesting thing to say about the film is how effectively the actors mug for the camera.  Murphy may be a parody of his old self, but he still gets the laughs, and able supporting players like Steve Zahn do much to help.  Adults bored by the movie’s cheap laughs can always appreciate Anjelica Huston’s antagonist (a caricature, but a perfect fit for the actress), alongside Lacey Chabert as her suffering bespectacled assistant.  Daddy Day Care‘s best feature is its absolute predictability… particularly in a certain kind of viewing circumstances (ie; playing daddy day care)