★★★★ The Girl In The Cafe

[Gino: 3.5, TwoShoes: 4.0]

Gino says: "Technically, this is a TV movie (HBO), but it was for all intents and purposes a feature film, so included here. I was torn between an affectionate 3.5 and a cautionary 4.0, so Twoshoes kinda took care of that for me. This stars [the great?] Bill Nighy and the lovely and not so bad herself Kelly MacDonald. It centers on a romance of sorts in the context of a G8 meeting in Iceland. That premise itself and the actors involved was enough to get me to see it. Bill Nighy is great (and I know I have been throwing that superlative around a lot lately, but he is). The first half is quite funny in a British sort of way. It looses its way a little with its heavy handedness and grandstanding. Not that those are unwarranted when examining terrible disparity in wealth in this world, but it doesn't make for the best movies. But the subtlety of acting is good enough to carry it through those cheesy bits, I think. A curious side note: the director of this is directing the next Harry Potter film, which presumably will not be very similar.