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Film Reviews: March
2007
Note: Reviews are in no particular
order
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 "Caffeine"
DVD - (First Look)
When I first saw the cover of this DVD, I imagined that it was set in
some U.S. coffee shop, like a Starbucks. Knowing what kind of people hang
around Starbucks, I didn't imagine that the film would be very
interesting. I also recognized Breckin Meyer on the cover, which really
made me think it was set in the U.S.
Imagine my relief when I started watching the film and found out it was
actually set in London, in a place called the Black Cat Cafe. This
hilarious comedy is definitely of the 'British Humor' sort, which I
actually prefer to some American comedies. The storyline revolves around
not only the personal lives of the employees of the cafe, but also the
clients. Normally, a film which tries to include so many different
characters and storylines gets bogged down and is sometimes confusing, but
"Caffeine" has no such problems.
Intertwined between not only the employees, but the cafe patrons are
sex lives and various exposed dirty little secrets - Which employee is
sleeping with whom; a horrible blind date; an ex-porn actress recognized
by a customer; a young man who gets dating advice from his loser friend;
the crazy grandmother of an employee who hangs around the cafe scaring
patrons; etc. These are just a few of the stories - and I'm leaving out
some of the funniest ones, so not to spoil any surprises. The film moves
at a fast pace and has some hilarious 'daydream' sequences, as each person
imagines the worst scenario right in front of their eyes.
I've been disappointed by some of the movie releases of the last six
months, and "Caffeine" was a very pleasant surprise! While the film has a
very British flavor, it’s not only for those comedy fans who love British
humor - but also for anyone who loves a great comedy!
Review by Scott H. Platt
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Our Review
"There's always something strange brewing at
the Black Cat Cafe"
The tagline doesn’t kid.
This movie is a non-stop serving of awkward situations
and unbelievably hilarious dialogue at its finest. The
film revolves itself around relationships of the staff
and customers of a small eccentric London café. We jump
from one comprising plot line to another hovering around
such topics as a condom wrapper, a crazy grandmother, a
man who likes to wear women’s underwear, and an ex-porn
star.
The casting was perfect for this film
which includes the likes of Mena Suvari, Breckin Meyer,
Katherine Heigl, and Mike Vogel to name a few. The
entire ensemble does a fantastic job working with
multiple storylines that evolve over the course of the
movie, each one with a twist of bizarreness that you
probably won’t see coming.
We had the pleasure
of viewing a screener for this film, and our team loved
it and highly recommends it. Here are some of the quotes
they left us with:
“Reminiscent of the British
series ‘Coupling’.”
“A highly entertaining
British comedy that should be seen in the company of a
mixed gender group in order to optimize the sexual
humor.”
“Perfect viewing for a night out with
your friends!”
Rating: 4 /5
Movie Description
There’s always
something strange brewing at the Black Cat Café.
A neurotic young commitment-phobe runs into his
ex-girlfriend while he’s whacked out on killer dope; a
high strung control freak finds out that her
husband-to-be is a transvestite; a hyper-possessive
boyfriend discovers that his girlfriend is an ex-porn
actress; and the manager’s boyfriend has a ménage a
trois which he says is forgivable because the girls were
identical twins.
Caffeine is an eccentric comedy
about these characters’ hapless attempts to repair their
fractured relationships as they confront issues of
fidelity, betrayal, forgiveness, and commitment. Du ring
one lunchtime at this offbeat London coffee house, the
relationships of the quirky staff and several couples
are suddenly turned upside down by the sudden
revelations of supremely embarrassing secrets and
idiosyncrasies, generally having to do with their
rampaging sexual appetites.
Release
Date
March 16th, 2007 |
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Friday, March 16, 2007 10:04:37 AM
MOVIE
REVIEW
Caffeine
by Joey
Lee
 Caffeine is a movie plays like a very long
episode of the British sitcom "Coupling", which isn't a bad
thing.. The film takes place over the course of an hour and a
half in The Black Cat Café. Rachel, manager of the café, has
recently kicked out and fired her boyfriend Charlie (Callum
Blue) for cheating on her with identical twins. Additionally,
Rachel must prepare to have an interview for her dream job,
which will take place while she is on her shift at The Black
Cat Café.
On the day of her interview, outrageous
conflicts arise between customers and employees alike.
Waitress Stephanie's (Mena Suvari) wacky grandmother is out of
her nursing home, and keeps yelling at customers. Mark
(Orlando Seale) throws a public hissy fit when he discovers
that his fiancé Gloria (Sonya Walger) starred in porn movies
before they met each other. Mike (Andrew Lee Potts) is stoned
to the point of Neanderthal, when he spots his ex-fiancé Laura
(Katherine Heigl) on a blind date. Angela (Jules Leyser) is
outraged when she discovers her fiancé David (Mark Dymond) has
a habit of wearing her panties and doing ironing. There are a
few other subplots stuffed in as well…
Caffeine is often quirky and makes original, sometimes even subtle,
observations about gender and society. John (Andrew Ableson)
tells David about how one night he was masturbating in public
and then arrested because a 12-year-old girl wandered over to
him. "Imagine that?" he ponders, "A 12 year old girl out at
that hour…"
Also, Caffeine has a surprising
amount of respect for its female characters, especially
considering that it is chock full of sex jokes.
Unconventionally, the character of ex-porn star Gloria is
handled seriously. Sonya Walger plays Gloria gloriously:
sleepy-eyed, quick witted, and confident. The male characters,
straight or gay, have a comfortability discussing their
sexuality with each other, not found in most sex comedies. The
depth of some of the friendships and relationships hinted at
in the dialogue is impressive considering how many of them are
crammed into such a short time period.
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Starring: Mena Suvari,
Breckin Meyer, Marsha Thomason, Katherine Heigl,
Mike Vogel
Production
Company: Steaming Hot Coffee,
Cosgrove/Meurer Productions
Distributor:
Opening Theatre Count:
Box Office Data: Data
unavailable (Get
All Box Office Numbers)
Movie
Details | Images | Review
This | Trailers/Clips
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Projected Release
Date: 3/16/2007
Further
Expansions:
Directed
By: John Cosgrove
Writing
Credits: Dean Craig |
Movie
Jungle's Review of Caffeine (2007)
Read
our review? Now Have YOUR Say! Rate
this movie NOW.
Average User
Rating: Unrated
Producers
Steaming Hot Coffee, LLC send along a whopper of
a comedy that will have you giggling like you’re
on a quadruple espresso high. With an odor
almost of “Clerks,” this hilarious character mix
stars Marsha Thomason (“Long Time Dead”) as
manageress of the Black Cat Café. This offbeat
haunt in London becomes home to various
panic-driven characters struggling to come to
terms with difficulties that have recently
surfaced in their lives.
Rachel
(Thomason) has just ditched her chef boyfriend
Charlie (Callum) after learning he’s taken up an
offer for a threesome. He’s made to wait outside
for hours, but just before getting the boot, he
discovers a condom wrapper that sends his mind
racing as to whom Rachel’s had her way with.
There’s the writer-aspiring Dylan
(Breckin Meyer), the only American employee in
the restaurant who’s just itching for good news
from his publisher, oftentimes slacking off for
a smoke. Next meet Tom (Mark Pellegrino), a gay,
over-emotional hard worker who’s thrown into
chef’s position and thinks the world of his
boss.
Mena Suvari is Vanessa, a funky,
no-nonsense freethinker left to take care of her
mentally unstable and institutionalized
grandmother Lucy who’s on her day out from the
nut farm.
Customer Mike (Andrew Lee
Potts) has just smoked some bad pot courtesy of
his supposed best friend Danny (Mike Vogel) and
is edging on paranoid. He’s a weak soul who’s
suffering form a recent break-up with Laura
(Katherine Heigl) and is basically drawn into
the worst of scenarios. Just one example being
Danny’s confronting of a seemingly decent woman
who turns out to be a record-breaking porn star.
This of-course is a total shocker to her
extremely jealous boyfriend Mark (Orlando
Seale).
Charlie’s vegetarian ex Laura is
also there on a blind date with obnoxious,
pigeon-killing Steve (Daz Crawford) who’s just
proudly purchased a shotgun.
Two
business colleagues and friends for years David
(Mark Dymond) and John (Andrew Ableson) have
some issues of their own – John’s been slapped
with an indecent exposure wrap after being
discovered by a twelve year-old girl when
stopping in an ally for quick fix and David’s
got a knack for dressing up in his wife’s
underwear and playing maid whilst she’s
away.
With all these characters having
something to prove and coming together in one
quite dingy café, there are definitely a ton of
laughs brewing. It’s crazy, loud, certainly not
for everyone but insanely funny from the word
go.
How fitting that Roz Witt who plays
grandma Lucy, had a role in “The Hillside
Strangler” as, at one point, she tries the very
same thing on Charlie.
Highly
Recommended.
- Peter Dimako, Editor in
Chief. |
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