that get made?” In the
world of independent movies, however, it’s frequently the cast that carries the
day. If a producer or financier can line up the commitments of enough
interested actors and actresses, money will suddenly and magically flow to the
project, and it becomes a reality. That certainly seems to have been the case
with Caffeine, a genial shrug of a
film which includes in its ensemble Mena Suvari (American Beauty), the ascendant Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy) and Breckin Meyer (ummm…
Rat Race?) — recognizable faces all,
if certainly not superstars.
full of misplaced love and affection, Caffeine
enjoyed a brief theatrical run in select cities just a bit earlier this year, and
hits DVD just before Heigl hits big screens in Knocked Up,
writer-director Judd Apatow’s follow-up to The
40-Year-Old Virgin. The story unfolds at the Black Cat Café in
an offbeat little coffee house where there’s always something strange brewing. During
one lunchtime shift, the relationships of the quirky staff and several couples
are all turned upside down by the sudden, successive revelations of supremely
embarrassing secrets relating chiefly to their sexual (mis)behavior. As these characters
engage in hapless attempts to repair their fractured relationships, they each confront
issues of fidelity, betrayal, forgiveness and commitment.
that bad; it just feels run-of-the-mill, honestly. The characters — which include
a porn star and her jealous boyfriend, the obligatory gay waiter and a demure fiancée
who finds out her boyfriend is a cross-dresser — come across as stock types
pulled from a stack of screenwriting-exercise index cards and given at-odds attributes
and attitudes in haphazard fashion. The only thing that really puts a hard spin
on the familiar subject matter is all the Cockney slang. For those still
interested, Mark Pellegrino, Andrew Lee Potts, Callum Blue and Marsha Thomason round
out the cast.
anamorphic widescreen transfer, Caffeine
comes with optional Spanish subtitles and a perfectly acceptable 5.1 Dolby digital
audio mix. The DVD’s special features include a 13-minute behind-the-scenes
featurette with cast interviews; there’s also a good portion of time here
devoted to talking about the aforementioned jargon. Previews for upcoming First
Look releases round things out, alongside a seven-minute blooper reel and a
brief collection of deleted scenes. None of these feature Suvari and rose
petals, guys, so… there you go. Prioritize your Netflix plans accordingly. C-
(Movie) B- (Disc)
