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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A Pretty Fun Movie, 10 juillet 2008
8/10
Author: Dragoneyed363 de United States

I honestly thought Caffeine was a really good film.It was pretty funny, really entertaining, and the acting was really good.I did feel as if it got really uninteresting at some parts, and at other parts they overdid some stuff a bit, but for the most part I had fun watching this movie.I just loved all the unfortunate mishaps and absolutely ridiculous problems everyone in The Black Cat Cafe faced, because it was just so entertaining to watch.It's certainly not a masterpiece, nor is it one of the greatest movies ever made, but it is certainly worth at least one viewing.It won't kill you to give Caffeine a chance, and the rating is a tad bit unfair, because it was not a terrible movie.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Neither fish nor flesh nor film, 26 janvier 2008
5/10
Author: gloshpit de United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

When the opening scene had two 'stoned' kids explaining in clumsy exposition just how stoned they were ("I am getting anxious! I am so stoned!") I feared that this would be a waste of money, especially given the quality of the trailers on the DVD. But although it's not brilliant, it's actually quite watchable.

The first thing I stated when it had finished was this wasn't really a movie per se, but more like an extended play for television. The style is very much like a theatre piece with a series of dialogues and subplots between sets of characters, leeching between groups at times. The acting was competent and the accents were quite convincing in the cases of Heigl and Suvari although no awards are likely to be won.

The problem I think many people will have is that it's marketed as a "hilarious" comedy, when it's not. It's an observational piece and a study in embarrassment, more along the same lines of The Office than blatant out-and-out comedy. Although it does have wit to it, this is not a comedic film and doesn't even *feel* like an actual film, so it's liable to confuse people. I doubt if I'd watch it again, but it was entertaining while it lasted and doesn't really deserve the lambasting some of the comments have given it.

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A slight disappointment, 16 septembre 2007
5/10
Author: Gordon-11 de Hong Kong

This film is about the chaotic events that happen in a day in a medium-sized London cafe.

Many have compared this film to "Waiting". I think this film focuses more on interpersonal relationships and emotional aspects following shocking revelations. It could have been a great film exploring such issues. However, the story is not so well written. There is too much jumping about from one character to another, making it slightly hard to follow, and decreases to coherence of the plot. It is not so much a comedy, as there are few funny moments. If it was not marketed as a comedy, then there would have been less disappointment.

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5 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Perfect with all its imperfections, 10 janvier 2008
Author: Kali Kartheiser (Arien_kartheiser_MD) de NY

People compared this to Waiting, I beg to disagree, its most like "La cena" than any other movie, has really funny bits, and shows us different realities, and different relationships, and give us a lesson on acceptance and love. The acting is not worth of an award but if you have no further expectations, this movie is funny, witty and has this weird -yet- sweet twist at the end. I saw it because of Callum Blue who happens to be perfect as the tortured unfaithful boyfriend, you almost believe his pain, but who takes the scene is Rozz Witt's grandmother, she's just too funny for words. I thought that a movie with Mena Suvari after America Beauty wouldn't be good at all but I really liked.

There are some pervy things that made me think, that someone's normal is not the standard and that's good, otherwise life would be just boring.

its perfect for those days with friends or for yourself when all you need is to laugh at something that could happen to you.

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13 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
Not Bad, 21 janvier 2007
Author: clare-141 de Australia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I randomly saw this DVD on the shelf of my local video shop and decided to give it a go I was surprised. It is a movie that is based in one crazy day at a hip coffee shop in England. The story lines revolves around all aspects of the café the patrons the bosses and the managers you not only get to see the inner-workings of the café and the workers but you get to see private and some times hilarious and touching lives of the patrons. There are some moments that you wonder where is this going but once you get into the flow of the movie you really get hooked. Worth seeing, if you have some spare time, sometimes though the English accent of M.S gets a bit annoying but she does pull it of well.

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Cool concept for a film but fails through bad direction., 8 juin 2008
5/10
Author: CindyH

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I'm not going to write a detailed synopsis of the film; you can get that anywhere online. This "comment" is to illustrate what I think about the movie, so you can better decide if you want to see it.

The idea is actually a good one and an alternative title such as, "A Day in a Café," really describes it better. I like that it's all based in one general location - similar to a play - and that it all occurs within a short time period of one day. It's just about in real time. I also like that almost everyone has a secret of some sort, that eventually comes out.

One thing this movie does, that I think is really creative (though isn't a new concept by any means), is it displays for us the mental picture one gets as a secret is uncovered. To understand this, imagine for a moment that your best male friend is wearing a dress and an old lady's hat. That mental image in your mind is the same image that we get to see through the character's eyes as they find out someone else's secret.

It's all slapstick comedy to the extreme, so it's all in fun. One reviewer here worried that all Americans would think all the English really act like that. That's the silliest notion in the world. Slapstick comedy is one of the oldest and best types of comedy and is familiar to us all.

Now for the not-so-great parts.

I have no problems with Americans portraying the English and vice versa, so long as its done well. Unfortunately for us though, it is not. Both Katherine Heigl and Mike Vogel need to stick to American roles. Imagine an American actor switching throughout the film between both a regional southern American dialect and one from the Bronx. Can you imagine such a horror? Well put that into British terms and this is what you get from Vogel. I never could figure out what region he was supposed to be from. There were even moments where he sounded Scottish! Heigl on the other hand lapsed between American and British, making her nationality questionable. Because of this, I kept expecting to find out that being an American schizophrenic was her secret. I'm not saying that their acting abilities were the problem, it was just their linguistic abilities.

I've also no problems with boisterous comedy either, but the comedy in this film was (for a lack of a better word) incongruent. The writing was fine and the jokes worked some of the time, but the timing was off or something. I don't believe that it was the actors or the writing at fault, but the director. Whatever it was, it made it very uneven.

I was telling my husband about it this morning. The interesting thing about this is that the movie came off funnier in my retelling of the story, then it actually was. My 19-year-old daughter entered the room to hear us laughing about the story. She asked what movie we were talking about and my husband promptly replied, "She's been laughing (very hard I might add), telling me about this movie that she supposedly didn't like for the past twenty-five minutes." Indeed!

To sum it up; if you know in advance that it's crass, off-beat, has bad timing and bad direction then you might actually enjoy it. Just keep in mind that it is loaded with errors and don't have a high expectation. Would I watch it again? Maybe, if nothing else is on. Would I buy it on DVD? Absolutely not.

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Be Caffeine Free, 16 mai 2008
3/10
Author: theprovinces-1 de United States

If screenwriter Dean Craig was a friend of yours you'd be quite hard pressed to find something nice to say (because of course, you could never tell him the truth, which is that Caffeine is a pretty awful movie.

There is a reason why nearly everyone who's commented on the film makes reference to the bad British accents put on by the American actors, most notably Mena Suvari and Mark Pellegrino. What's truly frightening is that the IMDb references the latter as an acting teacher and his performance is the most over-the-top in a film full of forced situations and performances. And this includes Callum Blue who, while adorable, is playing his Mason from "Dead Like Me," which probably would've fine if he'd been given better lines (and situations).

Surprisingly, the most spot-on accent is done by one of the lesser-known actors, actor Mike Vogel (who Dean on "Grounded for Life"). Katherine Heigl's accent is actually not bad (and certainly far superior to Suvari's and Pellegrino's). Roz Witt's, too, is terrible. It was quite smart of Breckin Meyer to just be American.

It's the film's weakest element -- the idea of insisting it be set in a London restaurant, when it could be set anywhere, especially where the weaker American actors could focus on their performances rather than a wobbly accent. Repeatedly throwing in a "bloody," "shag," "knickers," "shat," or "fancy," just isn't enough to effectively establish this as London.

From the opening scene, it's obvious that this was filmed in Los Angeles. Every outdoor shot has the same two old-school Brit Taxi and Double Decker bus passing back and forth. All three vehicles are preserved like they've been borrowed from the Petersen (Car) Museum.

Ah, here's what you could say to Craig -- his actors are very attractive.

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Dull as ditch water, 11 octobre 2007
4/10
Author: two-robinsons de United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I'm still trying to work out how and indeed why this film was ever made. When will filmmakers understand that scripts featuring a variety of characters and hopefully a number of unifying themes are really difficult to pull off? Caffeine doesn't even come close to getting it right. To make matters worse as a comedy it is woefully unfunny to the point of painful.

In a nutshell, we're given access to a day in the 'zany' lives of the patrons and staff of the Black Cat Cafe. It's the usual stuff, someone's boyfriend has been cheating on them, someone's grandmother has gone doolally, someone else is waiting for a call from their agent, someone is on the blind date from hell when her ex turns up, someone else is revealed to be a transvestite. Someone turns out to be gay. Each story line plays out like a small sketch and appears to belong to a different film entirely as nothing seems to bind them together. Characters are so undeveloped it's impossible to work up anything approaching sympathy for them and their situations. Indeed characters like Tom the waiter don't even appear to have a back story. The fact it's set in London is incidental as apart from regular glimpses of the odd double decker bus and black cab, it could be anywhere. Even Rachel the owner of the cafe sounds northern.

Casting Katherine Heigel and Mena Suvari as Brits seems an odd decision as neither one had box office when this film was released and their attempts at the accent is woeful to say the least. Surely as London is known to be a cosmopolitan city it would have made more sense for them to be Americans? Sadly the basic idea is strong and in other hands Caffeine could have ended up being and entertaining and thought provoking rather than dull as ditch water.

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1 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Caffeine, 8 août 2007
3/10
Author: T. Cakebread de United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I think that this movie could have had the potential to be very successful & hilarious but, it was such a let-down for me. The story-line was a bit too random & slow at times. I didn't fancy this movie at all. I'm glad that I rented it and didn't purchase I'll tell you that. It seemed like it would be a good flick because of certain actors & actresses that I've seen in other movies. However, If I were them, I'd leave this movie out of my filmography. There were few remotely humorous parts. I didn't like the way that part of the story was left up in the air like about Rachel and the new job as well as Rachel and Charlie. Personally, if my boyfriend did what Charlie did to Rachel, I would be so hurt and wouldn't allow him back into my life.

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11 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Stuck in the middle, 18 avril 2007
4/10
Author: frafoa de Taipei,Taiwan

A uneven day in a mundane café.Everyone brought his own problems into the scene.And suddenly all the problems were solved just before the credit started rolling.I have no problem with happy ending.But this movie seems so trivial and unfocused.It's not trite,and not subversive also.Just sort of stuck in the middle,the director intended to try something new and just fell by the wayside.Although there are so many characters,each in a different quandary,but there is no one we can really relate to or even makes us feel a little bit resonant.Mena Suvari is still edgy and smarting.Katherine Heigl grabbed the chance to play a totally different character during the hiatus.Callum Blue is once again a sleazy but enchanting lover.Jules Leyser did a good work portraying the canny but vulnerable,soon-bride-to-be,lawyer.But none of these cameos left any impression for you to consider what if you were in his/her shoes.

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