Mistress of Spices can be watched just once. The story line is downright amateurish. The Mistress of Spices has weird rules. Aishwarya Rai looks pretty, but has no role to play. She just stands and twinkles her eyes, coy and shy, reserved, steeped in age old tradition and modesty, wrapped in Indian sarees.<br /><br />Doug (McDermott) acts much better, has more expression to his face, delivers his lines well.<br /><br />The customers to her shop add color, contrast and variety. But they have no serious roles. They all look lost and scattered, like little kids who have memorized their lines and come to get a pound of garlic or some crushed almond powder.<br /><br />It is like when you know which spices provide what relief, I would not visit that store again. Would you? Garlic - an aphrodisiac, okay. Lotus Root - for love eternal, and so on.<br /><br />The lines in the script are so artificial and do not hold up. They are so weak. The narration by Aishywarya Rai just does not cut it. It is so poorly delivered without any inflections to tone of voice and plain.<br /><br />In the middle of the story, the plot deviates to some Indian hut (for no reason) and comes back. The story did not do the movie justice and the script poorly written.<br /><br />The actors looked lost except Doug (McDermott). The Mistress of Spices if forever locked up in her store. Hmm! A Cinderella Motif without relief.<br /><br />Jacob David.