Girl in the Cafe

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52FM
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Girl in the Cafe

#1 Post by 52FM » Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:02 pm

Anyone see the HBO movie The Girl in the Café? I did not, but from the reviews I read it sounded like it had some LiT similarities. A lonely 55 year old man meets and develops an “unlikely” relationship with a 30 year old woman (unlikely is a reviewer’s word). Presumably both not married. He works for a government agency (I think English) and invites her along to the G8 summit, where she begins to chide government leaders to do more about world poverty. I get the impression from the reviews that he is shy, she is unsure of herself, and somehow she finds a voice in politics – possibly through her relationship with “Bob” (or whatever the male character’s name is).

There is one line I read in the CNN review that would have been perfect for Bob to say – I bet Sofia wishes she would have thought of it: ("Don't think because I'm not saying much," he haltingly tells Gina in the film's sweetest scene, "that I wouldn't like to say a lot.") Perfect.

Sounded interesting – just wondering if anyone saw it and what you though of it.

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#2 Post by hull_street » Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:33 pm

52FM wrote:There is one line I read in the CNN review that would have been perfect for Bob to say – I bet Sofia wishes she would have thought of it: ("Don't think because I'm not saying much," he haltingly tells Gina in the film's sweetest scene, "that I wouldn't like to say a lot.") Perfect.
I haven't seen it, but that is very much a LiT-style line, and is a sentiment that I expressed to "my" Charlotte once, though not nearly so gracefully.

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#3 Post by wiggle » Wed Jun 29, 2005 3:33 pm

I saw it when it was premiered on ITV in the UK. There are lots of similarities to Lost in Translation and there are some scenes where the director has lifted frames from LiT and put it straight into the film. I pointed these shots out to my mum as we were watching it - the reflection of the young girl's face in the train window (like when Charlotte goes to Kyoto) and the shot when Bill Nighy's sitting on the bed is an exact replica of the poster shot of Bill Murray from LiT. They stayed in a hotel most of the time, like Bob and Charlotte and they both fell in love, despite their age difference. If I hadn't watched LiT, I would've considered it excellent, but since LiT is superior to this film in many ways, I just thought it was average. The main difference probably is that in this film is that neither protagonist has any marital ties.
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#4 Post by 52FM » Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:56 pm

wiggle -
Thanks for your comments. I suspected from the descriptions that I read that Girl in the Cafe borrowed heavily from LiT. The writer tidied up the situation by making them unmarried (was the male lead divorced, widowed, or never married?) and by making the woman around 30. To me, the whole "she's too young" arguement goes away by the time a woman is 30. Just me maybe, but it seems to me that by that "magic age" you lose any sense of her being too young for him. Certainly that's not to say that a woman younger than that is automatically not appropriate - it's just that the audience is very unlikely to have objections of May-December romances if the woman is that old despite the age difference of 25+ years. I may be digging a hole by not being able to articulate my feeling - yet I do think the casting was set up with this in mind.

Anyway - since it looks like it was a direct offspring of LiT (and inferior I suspect) not improving or breaking new ground, I doubt I will watch it.

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#5 Post by jml98 » Fri Jul 01, 2005 12:45 am

wiggle, as you seem to be the only one that's seen it, i should ask: is it any good?
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#6 Post by wiggle » Fri Jul 01, 2005 2:14 pm

Yes, the film is good. I liked Bill Nighy in Love Actually and he didn't disappoint in this film. He plays the jaded, often awkward character extremely well. Since the film is about the two characters going to a G8 summit in Reykjavic, Iceland, it's basically a message to the 8 leaders who are meeting in Edinburgh to make poverty history. It's good in that it highlights a very important message just before the conference, and the love story entwined is touching but if you're looking at it for entertainment value, it doesn't merit a second viewing. The film is so much like Lost in Translation that the only way a film could possibly be similar was if LiT was remade. Take out all of the political stuff and it's basically a British version of Lost in Translation. I've no doubt that Richard Curtis was heavily influenced by LiT when he wrote the script to "The Girl in the Cafe".
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#7 Post by lemoncupcake » Sat Jul 09, 2005 8:39 pm

I really enjoyed it.It's not something i'd watch frequently,but as far as a non movie theatre film it was pretty good.

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#8 Post by 52FM » Mon Jul 11, 2005 10:56 am

Thanks for your comments on Girl in the Cafe -
and welcome, lemoncupcake!

52FM (aka moviefan52)

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#9 Post by lemoncupcake » Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:34 pm

I watched this move again the other night when i couldn't sleep.(When i can't sleep i watch stuff i've recorded until i get tired)
Like i mentioned before,it's not something one could watch constantly but all in all it's a good film.I felt there were some plot holes but the more i think about it if those holes were filled it might take away from the movie's main message about how ordinary people can stand up and make a difference.
After watching it the other night,i sat there for a while wondering about how everything ended up with the characters. Did they ever see each other again? Things like that.That's one of the strange things i do sometimes.I wasn't much of a Sex And The City fan,but i saw on one of those talk shows once,Sarah Jessica Parker was talking about the shows end,and how even though we aren't seeing the lives of the characters anymore,that they're all still out there living their lives.So sometimes after watching certain movies,i often think about these characters and possibly where they are now.I think it's good that movies do that to us.They leave us to decide.
I'm a big fan of Richard Curtis' work.I really enjoyed "Love Actually".
I know this movie was part of the BBC's Celebrate Africa thing they did,and i think it was a great thing.I think this movie brought the attention of issues going on in the world,that most people overlook,or just aren't aware of.
A friend of mine was asking me about it a while back.He saw it being advertised on HBO and it peaked his interest.He finally watched it,and he sent me an email saying "This sounds really dumb and naive,but those figures they spoke of in the movie were really alarming,I had no idea things like this were going on in today's world". So i guess what i'm rambling about is,i think for the most part,it's doing what it was aimed to do.

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#10 Post by A moment of silence » Fri Jan 20, 2006 2:55 pm

I have been wanting to see this movie lately- I saw pics during the Golden Globes ceremony and somehow I think it is likeable. Hopefully it will be worth my time... :?
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