Mostly Martha is mostly a formulaic movie characterized by an anonymous style and a paucity of orignal ideas. The German chef, Martha, is an uptight control freak; the Italian chef, Mario, is a charming and comparatively sensuous extrovert; the eight-year-old niece, Lina, forces Martha to get in touch with her maternal feelings; and the movie, unfortunately, seems to imply that Martha's workaholic tendencies are inherently unfeminine. On the positive side, Martina Gedeck does a fine job with her role and makes her character seem like more than just a cardboard cutout, even though the script sometimes treats her that way. Credit must be given to Gedeck and writer-director Sandra Nettelback for knowing when Martha should and should not be demonstrative, and thus knowing when it's best for Gedeck to underplay her role (e.g., an affecting scene in which Martha reacts to an important phone call at work). Unfortunately, this awareness doesn't extend to Mario, perhaps because there is little to his personality beyond his demonstrativeness; also, unfortunately, the film doesn't have enough positive traits to compensate for the conventional story. But if originality isn't your top priority and you want to see a little bit of romance, a lot of food, and some tearjerking drama, then you might find this movie satisfying.