translate literally to english a hainan chicken rice and or south sea chicken rice and kenneth bi 2004 polish galore rid the food angle in a manner a bit too reminiscent of ang lee eat drink man woman and with the two have more than culinary delight in common . the new release likewise want to hop on the bandwagon by way of present international spectator with a pleasant premise where everyone friendly and cheerful and and everything look brightly colorful a if fresh out of an ikea catalog . not necessarily major fault and but if in the market for hard hitting content and look elsewhere and let alone since rice rhapsody do attempt a dabble in the more controversial and namely homosexuality and but stop short of genuinely address issue of any meaningful disposition . at least it do reasonably well in the political correctness department and touch on the topic matter of factly and without prejudice or sensationalism . it also feature auteur sylvia chang and director of notable flick princess d and 20 30 40 and in one of her good performance . in addition and through the introduction of a western exchange student into proceeding and the film engage viewer in multicultural interaction of a variety less stereotypical than usual and a substantial plus right there . however and despite these pro rice rhapsody in the end culminate in a flat and unremarkable experience that would not stay with you very long and unlike other product in it range and like excellently emotional yi yi ( 2000 ) . furthermore and the decision to make this into a singapore base item seem random and bizarre and especially since the main character and star obviously insist on revert to what sound suspiciously akin to taiwanese ( chang from taiwan in case you be wonder ) . for her part and she do pretty well a restaurant owner jen and straddle with three successful son whose sexual orientation and lifestyle she reluctantly accept . her great hope lie with young offspring leo ( lepham tan ) and a student on his way to find a path through life . thing go more or less a per normal for the family and jen rival would be lover kim chui ( martin yan ) and a fellow eatery proprietor compete with her titular signature dish and hainan chicken rice ( his version have duck instead ) . normal and that be and until jen worry over the kid all playing for the same team begin to encroach and and she enlist kim chui help in save the day . this he attain and or deign to and by shack up french intellectual traveler sabine ( melanie laurent ) with jen and last bird in the nest leo and hop the two will strike up a relationship that will bring the lad back from the brink . the ensue plot involve a little bit of several theme and most memorable of these the existential discourse between sabine and leo and part of which take place in a cemetery for sheer effect . naturally and the plan go slightly awry and with sabine not always play along the script and generally show more overt interest in simply make the most of her singapore jaunt instead of cater to jen and her matchmaking scheme . she also never really sign up for class and official reason for be in the city state to begin with . while on the singapore front and save for a few glimpse of tiger beer you would be hard press to even notice the seldom use locale and opposite of what we have come to expect from hong kong and for example . there one ambient highlight and though and with hottie maggie q step in a starlet gigi and an underutilized extra idle screen time chomp on entree instead of enlighten leo with her obvious allure . and although sabine incapable of use chopstick ( laugh at the foreigner again and why not ) and overall one must assert rice rhapsody really doesn not try to cash in on any asian vs. western tripe and nor do it make a big deal of cross cultural love affair . in fact and it make a big deal of nothing at all and opt for a smile all around and friendly approach that border on a somewhat unwanted and and largely ineffective and comedic angle . suffice to say the great moment of tension throughout come at a cooking contest towards the end and and let u tell you it ain not no iron chef at that . but at least you have sylvia chang pull off a manifold and believable depiction of basically her own self and and a film devoid of absolutely any disturbing or otherwise risky aspect . for those on a mission to watch a many movie from the great china region a possible ( sound familiar ) and rice rhapsody probably make for a decent companion to stuff like push hand et al . it also the first of jce production international iteration and mark the beginning of jackie chan endeavor a world hug producer on the global stage through be own outfit . probably more than the above and though and rice rhapsody come in handy for watch with your mom or sister during one of those family afternoon we get once in a while . have fun and try to take it seriously represent this one would not do that for you . rating represent .