“Girl in the Café” actually has more depth and is more serious than the others as it transcends them by trying to engage with significant world issues through tackling a summit meeting of the G8 countries in Reykjavik, Iceland (in 2005 it actually took place in July at Glen Eagles, Scotland). Curtis, with director David Yates, has found a way to demonstrate his commitment to “Make Poverty History” and to make reasonably good cinema too.
Lawrence (acted brilliantly by Bill Nighy) is an overworked and under-loved high-ranking civil servant working with the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Ken Stott). At a local café in London he shyly, very reticently, begins talking with Gena (played demurely by the pretty Kelly Macdonald who made her mark in “Trainspotting” in 1996). She is both attracted and bewildered by him. The script allows for some fancy foot, tie and sitting work that is both humorous and touching. Are you the kind of person who puts on a tie over a buttoned shirt or an unbuttoned? Do you sit opposite a stranger at a table for four or diagonally from them?
For different reasons, both Lawrence and Gena are lonely and want something more in their lives. He is married to his work and she has just got out of prison, a secret she refrains from sharing. When he leaves her table she says, “Don’t work too hard”, and he replies with British reserve, “I’m afraid that is all I do”.
They meet again over tea in the café, and after a few dinner dates, he invites her to go to Iceland with him. This leads to some hotel bedroom farce, which is underplayed. As to who can sleep where, she says, “If you don’t let me sleep on the couch, I’ll ring hotel security and accuse you of a sex crime”. She wonders, “What am I doing here”? While outside the protests crescendo, Gena finds herself on the inside, socialising and dining with heads of state. She has done her homework, has read Lawrence’s briefing papers, and is moved to speak out. A strong political element is introduced in a romantic comedy that normally would have no place there.
Gena becomes a one-woman crusade from within, to embrace the Millennium Development Goals and to make Africa a special case, because 23 of the world’s poorest countries are there, and something must be done to help the children of Africa. She sees the need for debt reduction, trade and aid to fight AIDS.
She is moved by the “casual holocaust where 30,000 around the world die each day”. “Every mother in Africa loves their children ... it is not right to watch them die”. She challenges the G8 leaders, “People die in their millions unnecessarily in front of you and you did nothing-tomorrow be great”.
Lawrence sees that his association with Gena will cost him his job and asks her to manage 20 minutes without annoying the Prime Minister (acted by Corin Redgrave). The consequences of her concerns are what this unusual film grapples with.
Normally injecting a political agenda into a romantic comedy would be a recipe for disaster, but Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald make it work. They have brought life to Richard Curtis’s committed script and David Yates’s vision of what this film could become.
“The Girl in the Café” is an HBO drama made for television, which has been slow to make its mark as a film. It is not a new story, as the role of a younger woman, who can speak truth to power, has been developed from “Pygmalion” through to “Erin Brockovich”, “A Girl in my Soup”, “Silkwood” and other cinematic confrontations.
“The Girl in the Café” is one hour and 34 minutes long. It is rated 13 PG because of bedroom farce.
The director is David Yates (who is now doing the 5th Harry Potter film). The script is by Richard Curtis.
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