Café (DVD Review)

13 Sep, 2011 By: Angelique Flores

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Prebook 9/14/11; Street 10/11/11
Maya
Drama
$27.98 DVD
Not rated.
Stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jamie Kennedy, Daniel Eric Gold, Alex Vega.

Shot mostly inside a bright, busy coffeehouse, Café is a charming indie flick about the various people who visit and work at this particular café.

There’s a smarmy drug dealer (Jamie Kennedy) who sits in the back of the café sometimes handling business, but mostly just passing the time. Coming to meet him or just to bum a drink or some food is Tommy, a formerly successful college kid who veered down the wrong path and ended up dealing and taking drugs.

There’s the man who has a standing rendezvous there with a woman he met at a play. He recently found out his wife was having an affair, and the pair regularly meet for friendly conversation.

There’s the woman who works for an at-risk program. She goes to the café to conduct job interviews, help Tommy and just unwind. And there’s Craig, the frumpy, spectacled guy who works on his Mac laptop.

Working at the café are Todd and Claire (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Todd is a sweet geek who plays in a band and has a crush on Claire. She, equally goodhearted, is in an abusive relationship with a guy named Dave.

And then there’s the writer who sits quietly by the window observing it all. His musings about what he observes are bit trite and try too hard. Thankfully, his thoughts don’t narrate the film.

Each character has an interesting, and believable, plotline, except for Craig. His character steers the drama into a kind of fantasy that seems designed to give the movie a happy Hollywood ending.
 

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