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analysis w/e 14.5.11 |
DVDs out 9.5.11 |
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May 11 2011 
DVDfever co uk
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Dom Robinson reviewsCaffeineDistributed by
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Caffeine
is a comedy set in the Black Cat Cafe, which I can only imagine is meant to be in Soho, London, given the
sight of a Congestion Charge symbol at one point when a character goes out to their car, and the sound of
Big Ben in the background of another scene. That said, according to the
Internet Movie Database,
it was filmed in Los Angeles, with a cast that includes some British actors as well as American ones,
some of whom are putting on British accents, for no particular reason.
The film begins with the rather amusing relationship problems between Rachel (Marsha Thomason, below-right) and Charlie (Callum Blue), since he blabbed to her about him having a threesome with two identical twins, who show up later in the film in a hallucination a la Scrubs (bottom-right). She kicks him out of her life and the cafe where he fulfils the crucial role of chef. As the place gets more and more busy later on, you just know how this will resolve itself, but suspense isn't where this film is at - that comes from the well-crafted script and some wonderful acting. One of the UK's rising stars is Popcorn's Andrew Lee Potts (right) as Mike, who, with Danny (Mike Vogel) are a couple of stoners just trying to make it through the lunchtime, let alone work out what they want to do with their lives and they're just about to meet Vanessa's grandma, who's seemingly suffering from dementia, but she's hiding a very dark secret that I don't want to spoil here as it was hilarious. Vanessa is played by American Pie's Mena Suvari (top-right) who is simply hotter than the sun. |
The basis of the story, such that it is, is that Rachel has applied for a job as the manager of a hotel she's
always wanted to work at and the owner is on his way down to see how she performs at the cafe, but he couldn't
have picked a worse day to come. Even if she does get the job, can she break out and fulfil a life-long dream
or will she crumble and stay loyal to the place where she's come to spend a lot of time with a group of staff
who have become firm friends?
The remaining staff not yet discussed are Tom, temporarily standing in as chef, played by Mark Pellegrino who took the role as Rita's thuggish ex-husband in the superb drama series Dexter, starring Michael C. Hall, which at the time of posting this review is currently showing on FX in the UK, while the US gets to see season 2 from September 30th. The other member is Dylan (Breckin Meyer), an aspiring author, but a man whose hard work has yet to pay off and he may only be able to escape the drudgery of the cafe if the publisher taking a look at his opus will give the thumbs up to his agent, and if that agent will actually phone Dylan back! Elsewhere, when it comes to the customers, Gloria (Sonya Walger) is mistaken for a porn actress and when her boyfriend, Mark (Orlando Seale), learns of this suggestion he flips out. Insecure Laura (Katherine Heigl) is on a blind date with wide boy Steve (Daz Crawford), not knowing that her ex, Mike, is in the vicinity and he's still extremely upset about their break-up even if she isn't. John (Andrew Ableson) is a businessman who accidentally exposed himself to a minor and needs his lawyer friend David (Mark Dymond) to help him out with an alibi, but he's got secrets of his own that come out even though he didn't want to share them and when his wife, Angela (Jules Leyser), finds out, she won't be too pleased. |
Caffeine is a brilliant little comedy in which, compared to the grand scheme of things, nothing
of any real importance happens except in the lives of the characters that visit the cafe one lunchtime. We see
how they blend and interact as they wait to get served and then wait some more for their food and, overall,
this comes across like one of those excellent BBC3 one-room sitcoms like The Visit and The Smoking
Room. Well-recommended for a great evening in.
I can only presume that the presentation of the promo DVD that arrived won't be the same as the finished product in the shops. Apart from the film having no menu, no subtitles, no extras and not even being presented in anamorphic widescreen (only letterbox?!), the chaptering has been stuck in at bizarre approximately-five-minute intervals, sometimes before the five-minute marker and sometimes afterwards, being placed with all the care and dexterity of a two-year-old. Blackhorse, please, I implore you, if you're going to send out promo discs to PR companies to forward to reviewers, the reviewers need to see the DVD as it will appear in the shops - that means menus, extras, subtitles, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and anamorphic widescreen. Nothing less will do. |
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As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Director: