Eating (1990)

A group of young and middle-aged women gather for the birthday party of a friend and talk about their lives and food they cook for their husbands, boyfriends, or themselves.

Director:

Henry Jaglom

Writer:

Henry Jaglom

Stars:

Frances Bergen, Lisa Blake Richards, Nelly Alard

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nelly Alard	...	Martine
Lisa Blake Richards	...	Helene (as Lisa Richards)
Frances Bergen	...	Whitney
Mary Crosby	...	Kate
Gwen Welles	...	Sophie
Elizabeth Kemp	...	Nancy
Marina Gregory	...	Lydia
Daphna Kastner	...	Jennifer
Marlena Giovi	...	Sadie
Beth Grant	...	Carla
Taryn Power	...	Anita
Catherine Genender	...	Lily
Hildy Brooks	...	Mary
Jackie O'Brien	...	Janet (as Jacqueline Woolsey)
Sherry Boucher	...	Maria (as Sherry Boucher-Lytle)

Storyline

At a spacious house in Los Angeles, Helene is turning 40-years old and her friends whom include French filmmaker Martine, house guest Sophie, and Lydia throw her a party. But also there is Kate a friend turning 30, and Sadie a Hollywood film agent turning 50. So, all of Helene's, Kate's, and Sadie's friends arrive for the party where Martine films the events with her movie camera and the shocking secrets revealed by Helene's mother Whitney, and her younger sister Nancy whom confide in their interviews about their obsession with food, and their roles in life.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | food | interview | filmmaker | birthday party | 

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Taglines:

A very serious comedy about women & food.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 November 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eating - Le dernier secret des femmes

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,764, 18 November 1990

Gross USA:

$2,100,538

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,100,538

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jagfilm, The Rainbow Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After a successful stint in many television roles, this was one of the first feature films in which renowned character actress Beth Grant appeared before her roles in hit movies such as Speed (1994), A Time to Kill (1996), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), and The Artist (2011)

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Connections

Featured in Who Is Henry Jaglom? (1995)

User Reviews

turgid, sexist, self-indulgent, and boring

Travesties like this give indie film a bad name.

Jagblom had his cast improvise most of the material, with a rough scripted story structure. Sometimes this works; here, it's a dismal failure.

The riffing about weight gets old fast, and is laughably preposterous to anyone who isn't an LA actress (i.e., most of his cast). Jagblom's "woman-sensitive" directing is almost immediately exposed as lecherous posturing, as his beautiful star is trotted out topless for no reason within the first 15 mins. Nice rack, Henry, but what about the movie?!?

Worst of all, it's just horribly boring. None of the characters seem worth following, and the film does a terrible job focusing on a few so you can get a toehold on some drama. For comparison, I enjoy female-friendly films like "Mystic Pizza," "Moonstruck" and "Clueless." I love foreign films. I would've walked out on "Eating", but sadly it was a rental.

Central conflict? Woman vs. pastry. Cinematography? Bland and undistinguished. Best use for Eating? Doorstop.