Consuming Passions (1988) User Reviews

Remake?

[dave437356x · 5/10 · 26 September 2005]

Unless this a remake, the original (I think in b/w and from the late 1960's), then this is a bonus on the DVD of Ripping yarns.

The original story is about someone accidentally falling into a vat of the chocolate mixture, but instead of the stuff being thrown away it is made into chocolate bars and sold much to the disgust of many. However the new taste proves a hit and the trend is continued with other people being killed off and added to the stuff.

I think it is from the late 1960's but it could be wrong, and it might be early 1970's, but it is quite dated in appearance, picture, sound and general acting - unless they're being ironic in style...

An overlooked gem of a comedy

[augustian · 7/10 · 12 June 2011]

I had never heard of this film until a few months ago when I saw it being advertised on ebay and decided to give it a try. Written by Monty Python regulars, Michael Palin and Terry Jones, this film has the feel of a Norman Wisdom film but thankfully without the pathos stage that seems to form a staple element of Mr. Wisdom's comedies.

Ian Littleton (Tyler Butterworth) is the hapless new employee who, by a tragic misunderstanding adds the human ingredient into Chumley's chocolate. At first, the new flavour is unpopular but gradually the public take to it so much that it becomes the must-have confectionery. The problem is, of course, that more humans must be found to to maintain the chocolate's success and no stone is left unturned in the search for more of the magic ingredient.

The film moves along at a fair pace with all the cast giving first class performances. Most notably, Vanessa Redgrave looks to be having the most fun playing the predatory suburban housewife, Mrs Garza. Prunella Scales (Fawlty Towers) displays her professionalism as the scatty secretary, Ethel; and Freddie Jones is the bumbling Mr Chumley. I think this film deserves stars.

Tasty satire missing some important ingredients...

[cchase · 27 September 2001]

Exploring themes that have been covered before to varying degrees of success by Sondheim (SWEENEY TODD) and director Antonia Bird in the even darker horror-comedy RAVENOUS, PASSIONS is a marvelous concept, but it seems as if something got lost in the translation from play to screenplay. Pythonites take heed; Terry Jones and Michael Palin wrote the play SECRETS, then adapted that for the screenplay, but this is Swiftian satire that's pitch black even by Python's standards.

I guess a considerable part of what the problems are with this movie lie in Giles Foster's direction. He doesn't seem to be sure if he's making an all-out slap-schticky farce, or a savage "veddy-veddy" British comedy of human foibles and frailties. In trying to give us the best of both worlds, the film suffers instead from a kind of unfocused schizophrenia.

What wonders would have been wrought if Terry Gilliam had directed, and Palin had taken the starring role (which seems to be written for him anyway), thereby completing the Python connection? Alas, we'll never know, but as it is, it's not half bad, and you could do MUCH worse.

"Snickers" meets "Sweeny Todd" .......

[merklekranz · 7/10 · 13 February 2021]

Dark chocolate and "dark comedy" mix well in this outrageous British comedy. Innocent first day employee accidentally dunks three workers into a mixing vat of chocolate, and thus begins his lesson on how big business operates. The bosses are only interested in profits, at the expense of all else. When our meek hero goes to inform the "loved ones' of the terrible accident, all hell breaks loose in the "black comedy" department. The casting and locations are perfect, and despite the derivative storyline the film seems fresh. Highly recommended, and for fans of British dark comedies such as "Car Trouble.", this movie will not disappoint. The DVD is rather pricy, but definitely worth it. MERK

Absolutely Bloody Marvellous

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 21 May 2008]

I have to be honest, I'd always had vague memories of this film from my childhood, someone very kindly emailed me to let me knew the title, I watched it recently again, and again, and again. It's just so funny and so well made. The acting is wonderful, Freddie Jones is simply glorious as bumbling Mr Chumley, Jonathan Pryce is a typical 80's yuppy businessman and superb. For me it has to be Vanessa Redgrave as Maltese Mrs Garza that makes it, she is hilarious and such a giggle. A wickedly dark and sumptuous film, ooh I also love Prunella Scales in it, the lines she has are hilarious, 'Semen in the chocolate, thats not very nice love' hehe, I loved it, see what you think :-)

Stupid, Funny, Sick

[joewill2001 · 8/10 · 30 October 2004]

A great movie based on what should have been a very weak plot. Most American viewers will probably only recognise Jonathan Pryce (and potentially Vanessa Redgrave), but the rest of the cast do themselves proud.

There is the kind, but absolutely incompetent and differential junior management trainee that is a klutz that causes the problems to begin in the first place - Ian Littleton

The evil manager without any scruples or morals (and little commonsense) - Mr Farris

The kind, but weak and pitiful old owner of the company that has little choice but to follow along with Farris' plans - Mr. Chumley

The dingbat, older secretary, "People don't want chocolates with cows and pigs in them. People want chocolates with people in them". - Ethel

The clumsy, witless scientist/chemist who falls for Ian. She's a scatterbrain, but very buxom and sexy (played by Sammi Davis)- Felicity

Finally there's Mrs. Garza (Vanessa Redgrave). There's no way to properly describe her - aging seductress, blue collar lover, uninhibited, amusing. I'm not sure if others will love her character or have slight shudders as they remember the date they couldn't escape from. You've got to see her!

The movie flows along reasonably enough; however, there are a few places where it drags and the ending seems a bit weak and ill contrived.

I highly recommend this movie for anyone that needs a slightly sick comedy. It generally won't have you laughing (if it does you might need professional help), at least not out loud, but like a train wreck you just can't stop watching.

This is one of my personal favorites, as well!

[crystalart · 9/10 · 31 May 2011]

I tell friends this is the funniest film about cannibalism I've ever seen! I've put in on wish lists, tried Netflix, everything, and I can't find it on DVD.

Fortuntely, I do have a pretty good VHS I can watch whenever I like.

It was my first exposure to Sammi Davis, who later turned up in Quentin Tarantino's "Four Rooms" in her voluptuous best.

The Monty Python influence is obvious. After all Michael Palin and Terry Jones put it together. Terry Gilliam did "Brazil" and here's Jonathan Price. He and Michael Palin starred in Brazil. Another very dark and humorous film.

Finally, there's the totally wonderful Vanessa Redgrave.

Enjoy it if you can find it.

A very black, sick comedy that is just wonderful.

[irvingwarner · 8/10 · 19 November 2000]

This is about very stupid people; also, it is about very greedy people. All of them come together in Old Chum's Chocolate factory which, of late, has added a wee extra ingredient to their new line of super-awful candies. The entire cast is dynamite, but the overall humor is black, to blacker. This isn't a movie for the Chuckle And Sideslap crowd, but for the much more stout-hearted comedy buff.

Fantastic Comedy with blackest of Black Humor

[drdancm-2 · 10/10 · 22 October 2006]

From the very beginning when some poor worker falls into the churning funnel of a vat of chocolate, this delightful, brilliant comedy is ready to have you falling out of your chair. Once you accept to suspend disbelief, you can't help but enjoy the wonderful wacky characters that inhabit this film.

Vanessa Redgrave gives a brilliant and memorable performance as the passion filled widow who takes the meek protagonist in hand and knocks his socks off. She is absolutely hilarious.

I can't believe the poor average rating that this film has garnered so far, and I can only guess that the people who rated this film lack the capacity to understand black humor.

Any fans of Monty Python, Mr. Bean, or Tracy Ullman will probably "get" the humor of this quiet, under-appreciated masterpiece.

Seemingly the only person in England that remembers this film!

[theamazingkazoo · 10/10 · 5 September 2002]

I have fond memories of this film when it first came out. It has probably dated badly in the mean time. But is probably worth a watch for the nypho landlady, budding tips on how to perk up your chocolate making skills with a corpse or two and Wincey Willis?!

Great Gallows Humor & Ms. Redgrave too!!!!

[LSTHNSTMAN · 9/10 · 2 December 2013]

I truly enjoyed the movie. I rented it some years ago at a Blockbuster Video store, unfortunately now defunct, and bought it at a flea market for a pittance. Fifty Cents to be precise. It stars slow but I figured it would move along and so it did. A young man who is inexperienced in both regular business and monkey business, wants to move "up" in the company as well as win the heart of his lady fair, but in the latter he is very inexperienced The accident he witnesses makes the company's product taste great and boosts sales. But he is told by the company (his boss) to get a disclaimer from the families of those who wound up in the chocolate. Two of three go well, actually 3 of 3 go well as the widow lady he meets Mrs. Garza has a sexual appetite second to none, and trains him in all the ways needed to win his lady fair. I wish I had a Mrs. Garza in my life.

Do chocolate shocks come too late?

[dbdumonteil · 4 August 2005]

Human flesh has often been the missing secret mysterious ingredient of many films.In sci-fi ("Solyent Green" ) ,in horror ("Motel Hell" ) or comedy ("delicatessen").Even Shakespeare knew the trick ("Titus Andronicus").

It is evident that the writers here try too hard slapstick and not enough subtle black humor.There are plenty of ideas in "consuming passions" but most of them are wasted:the chocolate made without chocolate,the new "very special" products which the consumers praise to the skies ,the bubble head blond which is overjoyed cause her tests prove her right.

But the weakest link is Vanessa Redrave's part.How could one of the greatest living English thespians have agreed to play such a demeaning part of a ludicrous nymphomaniac?Butterworth is some kind of Jim Carrey clone(the naive-young-man-who-proves-he-is-smart-and-ambitious).

A clever director would have kept all that is good (all the black humor side) ,ruled out the widow's part and made a not politically correct movie.Some say Terry Gilliam.They are probably right.

Comedy fiasco

[lor_ · 26 April 2023]

My review was written in March 1988 after watching the movie at a Times Square screening room.

"Consuming Passions" is a thoroughly unfunny misfire, equating poor taste with black humor. British-made effort from Samuel Goldwyn Co. (of which the late Goldwyn Senior would clearly disapprove) integrates cornball elements from such warhorses as "Sweeney Todd" into a very flat satire that is barely suitable for midnight screenings.

Pic originally was developed with the active participation of several Monty Python members, with Goldcrest (since departed from the project) involved as well unr the working title "The Chocolate Factory". Final result is credited as based on a (little-known) play "Secrets" by Pythonites Michael Palin and Terry Jones, but Paul D. Zimmeman ("The King of Comedy") and Andrew Davies' script is witless and vulgar.

Nominal plot, a sketch stretched to feature length, has naive management trainee Tyler Butterworth arriving at Freddie Jones' chocolate factory and accidentally pushing three workmen into a vat. Unable to stop the assembly line, Butterworth to his horror discovers the men have been processed into the first batch of Passionelles chocolates, a brainchild of new company manager Jonathan Pryce.

Under Giles Foster's mechanical direction, every plot twist is telegraphed at least a reel ahead: Jones and Butterworth's unsuccessful, frenzied attempt to retrieve the tainted chocolates; test results which prove that only the cannibal-contents Passionelles meet with consumer approval; lengthy segue to Butterworth's "Burke and Hare" assignments to fetch corpses to keep the popular 6% human content Passionelles in production, etc.

Only surprise here is top-billed Vanessa Redgrave, taking an ill-advised stab at comedy by playing, with Melina Mercouri-esque voice, a Maltese woman whose insatiable sexual appetite gets Butterworth in trouble. Redgrave's extraneous cameo, at first amusing, is padded via endless repetition and becomes embarrassing. Toilet humor here makes the "Carry On" films seem a paragon of good taste by comparison, and at least they were amusing.

Pryce gets a few cheap laughs from his garish clothing, but his facial tics and affected vocal pattern (performing each sentence with "Yeah!") are tiresome. Jones hams to no effect and Prunella Scales, erstwhile perfect comedy foil for John Cleese in his "Fawlty Towers" tv serie, has little to do as a secretary wearing funny-looking miniskirts. Sammi Davis, as Butterworth's romantic interest and the closest to a normal character, is very appealing with a Liverpudlian accent.

Helping to sink the dubious enterprise is casting of Butterworth in the lead role -he simply isn't funny in a part that would require an established talent on the level of Michael Palin to carry the picture. Tech credits are solid down the line, offering needed visual distraction.

A tasteless sight gag involving an AIDS-prevention warning got the only belly laugh at the screening.