Monday 15 December 2008

The Girl in the Cafe [2005]


Directed by British filmmaker David Yates, The Girl in the Café could easily lay claim to a unique fact – this could possibly be the only romantic comedy set on the backdrop of the G8 summit (sounds an oxymoron, doesn’t it?)! This is the tale of a serendipitous romantic affair that develops between a middle aged civil servant working under the Chancellor of Exchequer of the British government, and a sweet-natured though strangely outspoken young lady with a mysterious past. Filled with delightfully oddball comic moments as well as a strong political commentary, this is one movie one can’t help but like despite its shortcomings. Whenever the simplistic (and lets face it, amateurish) political overtones bordering on naiveté, and the impractical pseudo-moral outbursts of the lady seem to come into the way of viewing pleasure, Bill Nighy with his brilliant display of situational comedy and subtle mannerisms as the mild-natured bureaucrat who thinks and thinks again before acting, and the charming chemistry between the two protagonists, manage to save the day.








Director: David Yates
Genre: Comedy/Romantic Comedy/Comedy Drama
Language: English
Country: UK

4 comments:

sitenoise said...

Bill Nighy's performance in this is amazing. I give it five stars just for that ... and, as is often the case, I think your description is spot on, except for the star count.

Shubhajit said...

Thanks for the appreciation. But for this movie, I wouldn't have known there's an actor, and a very good one at that, called Bill Nighy.

Modest budget and intimate movies like these often throw up more surprises (pleasant ones, i.e.) than the glossy blockbusters.

Sadanand Renapurkar said...

I can't believe you rated this movie this high. I was so annoyed with the lead performances. Particularly the one where she openly castigated the Prime Minister. It's ridiculous and utterly annoying. Can your great concern for the great problems be voiced by creating a scene like that. Or just to win the male lead's heart. Crappy stuff.

Shubhajit said...

If you read my review, you'll come across a line which goes like, "Whenever the simplistic (and lets face it, amateurish) political overtones bordering on naiveté, and the impractical pseudo-moral outbursts of the lady seem to come into the way of viewing pleasure...". So you see, the scenes where the lady is voicing her opinions didn't please me either.

But then, the movie also had enough quirky and simple yet delightful moments to endear itself to me. And moreover, Bill Nighy's performance itself was worth the watch.