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      Chinese Coffee

      R Released Sep 2, 2000 1h 39m Drama List
      Reviews 74% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score Harry Levine (Al Pacino) is an aging author in Greenwich Village who fears that his best days might be behind him. Though he saw moderate success in the past, he's currently unemployed after losing his job as a restaurant doorman. When he calls his friend Jake Manheim (Jerry Orbach) to collect a debt, he also shares his latest manuscript, a story about Levine and Manheim's friendship, which leads to the re-opening of old, still unresolved wounds. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      Matthew Pejkovic Matt's Movie Reviews A New York story born out of the acclaimed Actors Studio, Chinese Coffee is a tragic, at times comedic drama that focuses on the themes of trust, betrayal and compromise found in friendships. Rated: 3.5/5 Mar 7, 2014 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Steve D The actors are always strong but there is not enough to the script. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member Orbach and Pacino are clearly delivering an acting clinic here but I think this material should have just stayed on the stage. The dichotomy between the two characters and all the clever banter does become exhausting before the end credits roll. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member This is the worst movie I've seen in a long time. Truly an exercise in human misery. The editing is atrocious! Transitions? What are those?! The music is often so poorly placed that it distracts from what the characters are saying, but maybe that's a positive when I think about it. These characters are horrifically unlikable. They're sad, pathetic human beings who each think they're better than one another, but they're both hypocritical and mean-spirited. And it's so pretentious too. It's obvious that Pacino thinks this is some kind of great art piece, but it's really just a schlocky mess, and the fact that it's trying to be some deep work comes off as utterly tasteless. Two stars for decent performances and cinematography. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member slow at first and the flashbacks weren't that well inserted Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review pasha a A sad story with brilliant acting. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member An enticing and unique film that didn't get recognition and the credit it deserved. Al Pacino in his second directorial feature proves to have some great cinematic capability in the director's seat. Along with directing he stars as Harry Levine, a struggling writer desperate to get his work published. Jerry Orbach plays Jake, Harry's "friend" who purposely lies to Harry about reading his manuscript for his own selfish reasons. This smaller film is great because of the while simple premise, shot as a one on one conversation that uniquely delved into each character's life through the use of some important flash backs to bring the story to life. Pacino gives a great and dedicated performance as Harry, he showed his struggle, his passion, and ultimately the paranoia this man had in his daily life and will to be somebody. It is an interesting look at the struggling life of a poor writer but also much more the quality of friendship and what it means. The film's writing itself and screenplay was excellent and something very unique about this was something I also felt watching a previous Pacino film (The Local Stigmatic), was it felt less like a film and more like a play made for the theatre which was the intention.This film finally found life in the Pacino: An Actor's Vision set, a great set of film's that Pacino himself either produced or directed. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Harry Levine (Al Pacino) is an aging author in Greenwich Village who fears that his best days might be behind him. Though he saw moderate success in the past, he's currently unemployed after losing his job as a restaurant doorman. When he calls his friend Jake Manheim (Jerry Orbach) to collect a debt, he also shares his latest manuscript, a story about Levine and Manheim's friendship, which leads to the re-opening of old, still unresolved wounds.
      Director
      Al Pacino
      Producer
      Anne D'Amato
      Screenwriter
      Ira Lewis, Ira Lewis
      Distributor
      Fox
      Production Co
      The Shooting Gallery, Chal Productions
      Rating
      R (Language)
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Sep 2, 2000, Original
      Release Date (DVD)
      Jun 19, 2007
      Runtime
      1h 39m
      Sound Mix
      Dolby Digital