The recipe is the same; why does it taste so different? María Ripoll reheats the zesty stew of Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman; the result is more sugar than spice. Switching the original’s dim sum in Taipei for chalupas in Los Angeles, Ripoll begins with close-ups of savory-looking food preparations as Martin (played by Hector Elizondo with quiet power and wit), master chef at an upscale bistro, cooks dinner for his three whiny and neurotic daughters. The trouble is, nothing gets eaten, as this and each subsequent meal opens with someone blurting, " I have an announcement to make, " and off we go on a tangent, with Carmen (Maribel Naranjo), the favorite, announcing she’s moving into a condominium, or Maribel (Tamara Mello), the youngest, revealing she’s moving in with her spur-of-the-moment boyfriend, or nunlike Leticia (Elizabeth Peña) saying a prolonged and tormented grace.

Of all the tales, the most intriguing and least sampled is that of Martin himself. Widowed for years, his sense of taste failing, he finds his life rekindled by three generations of females, including a grandma played by a monolithic Rachel Welch. He serves up a piquant performance that deserves better than to be blended into this bland Soup.