The Girl in the Café

TV-14

2005

1 hr. 34 min.

Romance

Comedy

Drama

List

Reviews

85%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Lawrence (Bill Nighy) is a reserved civil servant who has worked for the British government for years. When he meets the much younger Gina (Kelly Macdonald) in a café, he is immediately smitten. Feeling uncharacteristically impetuous, Lawrence invites her to join him on a business trip to Reykjavik for the G-8 summit. Gina, not one to hold her thoughts back, surprises Lawrence with her blunt political opinions, and he must balance his affection for her with the propriety of his position.

Read More

Read Less

Jennifer D

So perfectly acted, such a beautiful story. Almost gives one hope that even just one voice could make a difference.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Promising, but then make Blobbo big cringe, change channel.

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 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 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A surprising, slight story blessed with excellent performances .

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 out of 5 stars

08/09/16

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

David Yates

Director

Bill Nighy

Lawrence

Kelly Macdonald

Gina

Ken Stott

Chancellor

Anton Lesser

George

Corin Redgrave

Prime Minister

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Potter Part 5 Gets Production Underway

View more photos

Brian Lowry

Variety

Understated and moving.

Dec 20, 2005

Full Review

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

Rated: 3/5

Dec 24, 2005

Full Review

Pablo Villaça

Cinema em Cena

A dupla principal impecvel, o roteiro de Curtis inteligente e recheado de bons dilogos, mas a mensagem poltica, apesar de bem intencionada, ingnua e soa artificial.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 27, 2005

Full Review

David Cornelius

eFilmCritic.com

Nighy, Macdonald, and Curtis have never been better than in their work here.

Rated: 5/5

Sep 3, 2005

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Lawrence (Bill Nighy) is a reserved civil servant who has worked for the British government for years. When he meets the much younger Gina (Kelly Macdonald) in a café, he is immediately smitten. Feeling uncharacteristically impetuous, Lawrence invites her to join him on a business trip to Reykjavik for the G-8 summit. Gina, not one to hold her thoughts back, surprises Lawrence with her blunt political opinions, and he must balance his affection for her with the propriety of his position.

Director: David Yates
Executive Producer: Paul Abbott, Richard Curtis, Julie Gardner
Screenwriter: Richard Curtis
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Sep 6, 2005