For so brisk and entertaining a film, sharp in its observations but light in its touch, Cooking has unexpected substance and is a formidable accomplishment in that it brings dimension to its nearly 40 principal characters.

Because the stories are so skillfully threaded together, the movie doesn't feel like an exercise: Each of the stories stands on its own.

What makes this movie special is the meticulous attention placed on each of its characters, employing them not in the traditional "melting pot" manner that is so common, but as part of a grand mosaic that actually seems to be worth sharing.

Splendid acting, a screenplay as likable as it is unpredictable, and an undercurrent of deep human generosity make this a particularly engaging comic-dramatic experience.

Like the meal itself, the movie's both filling and familiar.

Her (Chadha) film tastily demonstrates that variety is the spice of not only American life, but of American cuisine.

A big-hearted celebration of the we're-all-in-this- together American way.

Lighthearted and smart enough to be one of the best Altmanesque ensemble comedies of the last couple of years.

Though often enjoyable, it’s an old-fashioned, feel-good movie whose significance is more sociological than cinematic.

It's a meal you may feel you've eaten before, but you nonetheless walk away stuffed and happy.

More interesting as a sociological study than successful as a movie, What's Cooking? gets more involving as it strolls along.

This is ensemble work at its best.

That director and co-writer Gurinder Chadha transforms this sitcom material into a lively and charming film about the melting pot at full boil probably owes something to the fact that her own multicultural bona fides are firmly in order.

If Chadha never quite overcomes her cliches, her good-natured humor and familial faith gives it a warm, winsome dimension.