Caffeine is one of those "ensemble" movies, with a bunch of people all involved in their own stories. There's no one main character and no one main story. It basically shows you what's going on over approximately two hours in an English café.

It's a crazy day at the Black Cat Café. It starts out with the manager, Rachel (Marsha Thomason) firing her boyfriend Charlie after he cheats on her. Too bad that Charlie is the chef. It's going to be a tough day at the café with no chef on hand.

The staff is all willing to help out, they'll even cook. Well, when they're not busy dealing with their own issues, that is. Dylan (Breckin Meyer) is obsessed with watching his cell phone. He's expecting a call from a publishing house telling him if they will publish his novel or not.

Vanessa (Mena Suvari) is more than willing to help out. When she's not busy tending to her grandmother. Granny's not really in her right mind. She sees people and hears conversations that aren't really happening, and she's wrecking havoc with the other customers.

Besides the staff members, the café is full of customers, many with their own issues. Mike (Andrew Lee Potts) is pining for his ex-girlfriend Laura (Katherine Heigl) who just happens to be at the café, on a horrendous blind date with the gun-toting Steve (Daz Crawford).

Gloria and Mark (Sonya Walger and Orlando Seale) are having lunch, but Mark's jealousy is drilling a wedge between them. It doesn't help when Mike's friend Danny (Mike Vogel) recognizes Gloria from her "adult films". Especially since Mark didn't know that little detail of Gloria's past.

There are other stories as well, but you get the idea. It's a bunch of disjointed snippets. The only common thread is that all of the characters are spending these two hours in the café. The movie would have worked better, if there had been a stronger thread among the stories, something that ties them together.

Many of the stories revolve around "secrets" and their tendency to come out, sometimes at the wrong times. Several of the stories have a sexual theme to them. And there's quite a bit of comedy.

One technique I really enjoyed is that we are frequently privy to the imaginings of the characters. Thus when one character finds out a secret about the other one, and imagines a scene in his head, we get to see the scene. These scenes tended to be silly, and sometimes a bit crass. But also very funny.

The movie takes place in England, and everyone has a British accent. Despite the fact that most of the actors are American. I found it a bit distracting to listen to such obviously fake accents. I'm not sure why that was necessary. The café could have been set anywhere. The location never played a part in any of the stories. So why couldn't the actors have spoken in their natural voices?

I found this movie funny and I enjoyed it. Yet I believe that most viewers will dislike it. They won't like the fact that the many stories are completely disjointed. And they won't enjoy the more crass (ok, possibly offensive) humor. So I recommend it, but with cautions. Only watch it if you enjoy the type of movie that shows a bunch of disjointed stories, and if you can handle some raunchy humor.


Happy to be a part of Barbara's (ifif1938) French And English Write-Off


Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age