Cafe au Lait

Customer Reviews:

Interesting concpet, grating characters.......2005-11-06

This movie is about a young woman named Lola of mixed racial heritage (her mother is from Martinique and that's all we know for sure) who has been sexually involved with two men whom she "loves". She becomes pregnant and brings both men together for the first time to hear the news in person. She informs them that she doesn't know which of them is the baby's father but that she intends to have her child regardless.

The men in question are Felix, a poor white Jewish guy who loves rap music and Jamal, the black Islamic son of a wealthy diplomat. Both men vie for Lola's affections and brawl with one another, getting into racially-motivated disputes over which of them should be allowed to care for mother and child, and argue about who the real father is. Eventually, the three of them live together to care for Lola and her unborn child, trying to overcome their differences.

This movie was the directorial debut of Mathieu Kassovitz, who later directed the fantastic movie "La Haine" ("Hate"), another film dealing with race relations in Paris. (He also acts: he co-starred in the movie "Amelie" as Nino and plays Felix in this movie.) Kassovitz clearly has a lot to say about race relations and it's obviously not a pretty picture. It puts a totally different face on the typical American view of Paris as a romantic, faultless city.

The trouble with this movie is the characters. None of them are particularly sympathetic, and the one character who should really win the audience's sympathy and trust fails to do so. Lola is a grating, annoying, self-righteous person who actually does FIND OUT THE IDENTITY OF THE CHILD'S FATHER and then refuses to tell the guys which one it is. She selfishly keeps that to herself so that she can keep these two guys slaving away for her, each of them operating under the assumption that he's about to be a dad. Jamal even leaves home and gets a job at a burger joint to help take care of her. Meanwhile, Miss Lola gets to sit pretty -- she doesn't appear to have any kind of job, so all she has to do is sit back and watch the fireworks and let the men do everything for her. She throws constant tantrums complaining about how she's being treated and whining about them getting along because "the three of us are having a baby." Well honey, it only takes TWO to have a baby, so Lola's math skills -- and people skills -- leave a lot to be desired.

Overall, this is an interesting look at another side of French culture but the characters are a bit difficult to deal with. Worth a rental, nothing more.

Average customer rating:

Café au lait [Region 2]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00004VXSV

Average customer rating:

Cafe Au Lait - with lotsa sugar, baby
Starring: Pasha Brandt , Milca Volny , Nikkimix , Dadou Pasquet , and Marie Felix Lemite
Director: George David Jiha
Manufacturer: Westar
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000UJNJDQ
Release Date: 2007-10-16

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