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Food of Love (2002)

tomatometer

46

Average Rating: 5.3/10
Reviews Counted: 28
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 15

No consensus yet.

50

Average Rating: 5.4/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 5

No consensus yet.

audience

45

liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 1,106

My Rating

Movie Info

Adapted from David Leavitt's book The Page Turner, Food of Love tells the story of a cross-generational romance between two men. Paul (Kevin Bishop), a sexually repressed teenager, is an aspiring pianist who gets an opportunity to work as a page turner for Richard Kennington (Paul Rhys), a renowned pianist who also happens to be Paul's idol. A flirtation ensues between the two men after a concert one night, but further possibilities are thwarted by the meddling of Paul's neurotic mother Pamela

R, 1 hr. 52 min.

Drama, Gay & Lesbian

Ventura Pons

May 11, 2004

TLA Entertainment

Cast

All Critics (31) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (13) | Rotten (15) | DVD (2)

This is mild-mannered, been-there material given a pedestrian spin by a director who needed a touch of the flamboyant, the outrageous.

February 6, 2003 Comment
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The performances and tight direction from Ventura Pons keep the film from descending into cheap melodrama.

December 13, 2002 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | Comment
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Plays like a glossy melodrama that occasionally verges on camp.

November 15, 2002 Comment
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's the extra layer that makes this one, the movie's understanding of how disillusion and inner compromise can gradually separate a young artist from his divine spark.

November 8, 2002 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

I suspect that there are more interesting ways of dealing with the subject.

November 6, 2002 Full Review Source: New York Observer | Comment
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

An elegant work, Food of Love is as consistently engaging as it is revealing.

October 31, 2002 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

An average coming-of-age tale elevated by the wholesome twist of a pesky mother interfering during her son's discovery of his homosexuality.

March 20, 2003 Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | Comment
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Young star Kevin Bishop plays the confused Paul with enough soul to sustain a movie that sometimes comes on like an ersatz training manual for parents of gay kids.

February 13, 2003 Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | Comment
Orlando Weekly

A sincere but dramatically conflicted gay coming-of-age tale.

January 20, 2003 Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | Comment
One Guy's Opinion

Despite Juliet Stevenon's attempt to bring cohesion to Pamela's emotional roller coaster life, it is not enough to give the film the substance it so desperately needs.

December 16, 2002 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | Comment
Boxoffice Magazine

The principals in this cast are all fine, but Bishop and Stevenson are standouts.

December 7, 2002 Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | Comment
San Diego Metropolitan

Based on a David Leavitt story, the film shares that writer's usual blend of observant cleverness, too-facile coincidence and slightly noxious preciousness.

November 26, 2002 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comment
Film Journal International

How can such a cold movie claim to express warmth and longing? In truth, it has all the heart of a porno flick (but none of the sheer lust).

November 14, 2002 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

One of those so-so films that could have been much better.

November 2, 2002 Comment
Reel.com
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Food of Love

This movie had to be the dullest piece-of-crap I've ever seen. Wait-- that would be Gods and Generals. But this would be high up there on my list of crappy movies. It has nothing to do with it being gay-themed (I loved Brokeback Mountain and Touch of Pink). It's just that the script is a thin shroud for a softcore gay

July 16, 2006
flickfever

Super Reviewer

I really enjoyed this film. There were many flaws though. The acting seemed disjointed, especially the lead character. The mother was really way over the top, I wish she would have been just a little more tame. The ending was really way open. So, much so that I almost rated this lower

June 28, 2009
logged81
Dave Smith

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Foreign Titles

  • Manjar de amor (ES)
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