A Forgotten Johnny Depp Movie Is About To Leave Netflix, Stream It Before It’s Gone
Johnny Depp has had a long, varied and as of late, troublesome career. His back catalog of work is so extensive that some films can be forgotten amidst the archives.
This article is more than 2 years old
Johnny Depp has had a long, varied and as of late, troublesome career. His back catalog of work is so extensive that some films can be forgotten amidst the archives. One such piece of cinema from the yesteryears of Depp’s work is Chocolat. Depp fans wanting to taste a slice of this particular story better hurry, as the film, currently available on Netflix, will be pulled from the streamer on the 28th of February.
Chocolat is a romantic comedy released at the turn of the century (2000). The Johnny Depp film was directed by Lasse Hallström (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) and is based on the novel of the same name written by Joanne Harris. The screenplay was crafted by Robert Nelson Jacobs (The Water Horse). The film stars Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche as Vianne Rocher. She, along with her daughter, move into an antiquated French Village, with cast-iron traditionalist ways and just before lent open a Chocolaterie.
Throughout the film, Vianne breaks down the rigid moral boundaries of the village via the Chocolaterie. Vianne is able to read her clienteles moods and troubles with surprising precision, and can perfectly remedy them with her confectionary products. This is how she slowly starts to win over the community. In the film, Bonoche’s Vianne encounters Johnny Depp’s Roux. Roux, an Irish River Traveller, serves as the love interest in the narrative. He is a fellow outsider of the fictional French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes.
Chocolat also sees Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp star alongside Dame Judi Dench (Skyfall, Shakespeare in Love), Alfred Molina (Spiderman: No Way Home) and Carrie Anne-Moss (The Matrix). Chocolat is a fun and whimsical tale according to its admirers and was even nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. It was generally well-received by critics as well. The film has a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 62% and an audience score of 83% with over a quarter of a million audience ratings. This goes to show there will be plenty of people disappointed to see the film disappear from Netflix come to the end of the month. Rotten Tomatoes describes the critical consensus of the film thusly: “Chocolat is a charmingly light-hearted fable with a lovely performance by Binoche.”
Since the release of Chocolat, Johnny Depp’s career has gone off in many weird and wonderful, and divisive directions. He has been a constant presence in the works of Tim Burton and the much-beloved star of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as drunken scoundrel pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. Sparrow is arguably the career-defining role of Johnny Depp’s acting work. The Pirates franchise is a box-office juggernaut and cemented Depp’s place as a Hollywood megastar for much of the 21st century. A method actor, an eccentric, he is known to disappear into roles and has starred not only in blockbusters but award-hunting films as well. Depp has turned in performances in the likes of Public Enemies and Black Mass.
However, whereas a few years ago, Johnny Depp’s career would simply be associated with eccentric performances, these days the picture surrounding the actor is far murkier. In recent years the actor has been engrossed in controversy, both financial and domestic. It is the latter that has grabbed media attention in the harshest sense. This is all down to the breakdown in Depp’s relationship with actress Amber Heard. Heard allegedly accused Depp of being an abusive partner, and the pair have been to and fro in court in recent years.
For Johnny Depps’ alleged part in the sorry story, he has received what is colloquially known as the ‘cancel culture’ treatment. The most high-profile case of this was Johnny Depp’s withdrawal from the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Depp originally stared in the Harry Potter spin-off film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald as powerful dark wizard Gellert Grindewald. However, as a result of the ongoing controversy surrounding the actor, he has been replaced for the franchise’s upcoming sequel The Secrets of Dumbledore, by actor Mads Mikkelsen.
It would have appeared that this represented somewhat of a death-knell for Johnny Depp’s career. However, many fans of the actor are constantly supportive of him across Twitter. It would appear also that the actor’s career has been thrown somewhat of a lifeline. According to reports Depp will be in a project by French director Maiwenn where he’ll be playing the Louis XV. So, while the future might be taking a turn for the better for Johnny Depp, for those wanting to take a slice of his past work in Chocolat, they better hurry and take to Netflix before it is wiped from the streaming platforms offering on the 28th of February.
