These are interconnected stories with the individual senses as the theme. Ruth Seraph is a massage therapist with sour teenage daughter Rachel. Anna Miller is Ruth's client and Rachel loses Anna's young daughter. Rachel is infatuated with voyeur Rupert. Robert is a professional house cleaner with a superior sense of smell. Rona is a cake maker who lost her sense of taste. Dr. Richard Jacob is an optometrist going deaf.Some of the characters are more compelling than others. In the end, I don't connect with the stories that much. This movie's central idea feels more like a gimmick. I'm interested in Ruth and Rachel. However there are some characters that feel like unwanted interruptions in the flow of the movie. It's disjointed and I can't find its flow. It would be a more compelling story if it's told more straightforwardly.

Roger Ebert made a point once that you can always tell when you're watching a film made in Canada because they take their time telling the story. No different here as a bunch of fascinating plots all revolve at the same time. Some quiet surprises are sprinkled throughout that make complete sense to the characters but perhaps not as well by the viewer. Whenever you see Mary Louise Parker in any movie, you know you're in for something interesting. She plays a chef whose visual masterpieces never taste as good as they look. A highly original work of delicate screenwriting with some of the most potent quiet moments of any recent film.

This is one of those films that must have looked very good in concept but fails in execution. It has a strong screenplay and good actors, but fails miserably in execution. I will admit to a bias against films that are self-consciously arty, which may have prejudiced my viewpoint, but if you can get through this one without rolling your eyes, sighing, or squirming in your seat, then you have a higher tolerance for directorial self-indulgence than I do.

You don't leave the theater untouched by this movie. It reached me and didn't let go. I saw this movie five times and for those among you who missed it, be sure you can get your hands on a video or dvd.It will stimulate al least three of your five senses...