Tilo is a young Indian orphan girl, fleeing from civil war, adopted as an apprentice by an old sorceress and taught the magical powers of spices. The next we see of Tilo shes an adult (Rai) in Oakland, California, and the owner of a thriving spice shop, using her powers for the good of the locals. She's happy enough with her life, but like a mogwai owner, she's bound by three rules: she must never use her magic for her own gain; she must never leave the shop; and she must never touch the skin of another person. After taking in, treating, and falling in love with a man (McDermott) who crashed his motorcycle outside her shop, she finds herself breaking all three rules.Pleasant and enjoyable, never bad in any obvious way, often gorgeous to look at (by all accounts the two leads certainly are), the film never quite weaves the web of enchantment it's trying to, and doesn't have the effortless charm of the most recent film in the same vein, Chocolat. It needs the audience's goodwill, but if it's the kind of film you already want to see on this particular night, you're unlikely to regret seeing it.'