The Girl in the Cafe

Mark and I recently watched the film, The Girl in the Cafe -- a 2005 Richard Curtis film. We loved the film right from the opening seconds right through to the end. It sported brilliant performances from both Bill Nighy and Kelly MacDonald.


Lost in TranslationThe backdrop of the story is a fictional G8 Summit hosted in Reykjavik, Iceland and the story is a romance between Nighy and MacDonald. On this level, the film does what Lost in Translation tried and failed to do -- be heartwarming and engaging from beginning to end and depicting a relationship between an older business man and younger woman without coming across as a bit sleazy. For the most part, I quite liked Lost in Translation, but this film is far its superior.


The Girl in the CafeThe real emphasis of the film is not the love story, but the Make Poverty History message -- that on average once every three seconds a child dies due to extreme poverty and that the leaders of the richest countries of the world have the power to do something about it.

I'd like to be able to say that this film has motivated me to try and get more involved with issues of social conscience; and that, as far as I'm concerned, Richard Curtis's mission is accomplished. I am, however, a realist. I realise that there is a huge gaping chasm between empathising with a cause and actually doing something about it and I don't want to speak too soon. However, I think that I will go as far as to say that I will investigate the matter further by looking into what may be going on in my area. Watch this space.