deankmaurer
Joined Oct 2009
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Reviews1
deankmaurer's rating
Charming performances, lushly exotic Thai locations and a feel-good spirit accent this award-winning, thoroughly enjoyable romantic comedy-drama crafted by writer-director Jeff Hare.
An engaging Kip Pardue stars as work-consumed Brian Chandler, who's drafted by coffee king Calvert Jenkins (James Brolin) to journey to Thailand to explore coffee-field pockets for a potential crop purchase. While there, he encounters the quirky locals, but most importantly he meets Ticha, the percolating female scion of a coffee family. Worldviews soon conflict, commerce clashes with the earnest art of coffee production, and the two immediately lock horns. Yet what is originally bitter can indeed turn sweet, and both Brian and Ticha take a journey of self-discovery amid this paradise spread.
"Bitter/Sweet" may appear to be a date movie--but it emerges as much more than that (though couples will certainly enjoy it together). Rather, it's a character-driven play complete with a jolting twist, a rich brew that nudges memories of three other quality films. In the vein of "Slumdog Millionaire," it delivers a sweet-and-low relationship stacked against the odds in a mesmerizing land. And just as "Sideways" is a fine-vintage voyage that toasts to wine and vineyard aficionados, so too does "Bitter/Sweet" intrinsically treat is arching theme--coffee and coffee connoisseurs--with care and respect. The film additionally shares the spirit of Bill Forsyth's 1983 winner, "Local Hero," in which an outsider arrives in an insular community, stirring up the local denizens and the regional status quo.
Director Jeff Hare continues to display his vibrant cinematic talent while adeptly tackling yet another genre. His 1999 short, "A Perfect Little Man," starring Neal McDonough, was a searing, intensely dark psychological drama about a man's ill-destined spiral into madness and violence. His 2005 dramedy, "Checking Out," was an appealing ensemble piece that featured snap-crackle-pop dialog and, in this viewer's humble opinion, one of Peter Falk's best-ever performances.
Now, with this film, Hare sets his keen eye on colliding cultures and the whims of romance--and ultimately he executes a sheer delight that brims with a whole latte love.
An engaging Kip Pardue stars as work-consumed Brian Chandler, who's drafted by coffee king Calvert Jenkins (James Brolin) to journey to Thailand to explore coffee-field pockets for a potential crop purchase. While there, he encounters the quirky locals, but most importantly he meets Ticha, the percolating female scion of a coffee family. Worldviews soon conflict, commerce clashes with the earnest art of coffee production, and the two immediately lock horns. Yet what is originally bitter can indeed turn sweet, and both Brian and Ticha take a journey of self-discovery amid this paradise spread.
"Bitter/Sweet" may appear to be a date movie--but it emerges as much more than that (though couples will certainly enjoy it together). Rather, it's a character-driven play complete with a jolting twist, a rich brew that nudges memories of three other quality films. In the vein of "Slumdog Millionaire," it delivers a sweet-and-low relationship stacked against the odds in a mesmerizing land. And just as "Sideways" is a fine-vintage voyage that toasts to wine and vineyard aficionados, so too does "Bitter/Sweet" intrinsically treat is arching theme--coffee and coffee connoisseurs--with care and respect. The film additionally shares the spirit of Bill Forsyth's 1983 winner, "Local Hero," in which an outsider arrives in an insular community, stirring up the local denizens and the regional status quo.
Director Jeff Hare continues to display his vibrant cinematic talent while adeptly tackling yet another genre. His 1999 short, "A Perfect Little Man," starring Neal McDonough, was a searing, intensely dark psychological drama about a man's ill-destined spiral into madness and violence. His 2005 dramedy, "Checking Out," was an appealing ensemble piece that featured snap-crackle-pop dialog and, in this viewer's humble opinion, one of Peter Falk's best-ever performances.
Now, with this film, Hare sets his keen eye on colliding cultures and the whims of romance--and ultimately he executes a sheer delight that brims with a whole latte love.