The Girl in the Café

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Jennifer D So perfectly acted, such a beautiful story. Almost gives one hope that even just one voice could make a difference. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/08/23 Full Review Audience Member Promising, but then make Blobbo big cringe, change channel. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review dave s Girl in the Café stars two of the most underappreciated actors out there – Bill Nighy and Kelly MacDonald. Nighy plays a socially awkward bureaucrat, significantly stressed out as he prepares to represent the United Kingdom in the upcoming G8 conference in Iceland. MacDonald plays the aloof but likeable young woman who Nighy meets in a café. What seems like a predictable June-December romance evolves into something quite different and unexpected, creating a tonal shift that could be problematic, but, thanks to the great performances by the two leads and some cleverly written dialogue, works out quite nicely. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Catches the right point. Fine team, start from writers, to actors and direction. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member A surprising, slight story blessed with excellent performances . Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Jon C Enjoyable for good acting The Girl in the Cafe is a combination political drama, about the attempts of the world's governments to end extreme poverty and a May-December love story, with Bill Nighy as a shy and idealistic British government official and Kelly Macdonald as the much younger girl he falls awkwardly in love with. The love story is well done, with the acting excellent, and since part of the story is set at a government conference in Iceland, we get some spectacular Icelandic scenery included. The film is worth watching for these elements, and can be especially recommended to those who liked the original British version of the TV series State of Play, since The Girl in the Cafe features the same director (David Yates) and two of the same lead actors (Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald.) On the down side, the film has been criticized for a naive and simplistic view of how to address world poverty. In my opinion, the criticism is largely valid. The film suffers from what I'd call the Scrooge fantasy: that if the powerful people at the top would just show a little more humanity, the wretched of the earth would be just fine. No they wouldn't: economic injustice isn't caused by the inhumanity of the people who are rich, it's caused by the inhumanity of the system that makes and keeps them rich. This review is based on the 2005 standard HBO DVD, which has very good image and sound quality. There apparently is a later release; I don't know if it's any different. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/09/16 Full Review Read all reviews

The Girl in the Café

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