Cappuccino (1989) User Reviews

Innocuous, but funny and adequate.

[iam-1 · 6/10 · 30 April 2000]

A nice little film that has much potential, some of which is realized. I wouldn't run to see it again, but it's perfect for an evening after a long week.

The best part of the whole thing are the two incompetent goofs who pursue the hero for the tape. You'll also see the mother from Murial's Wedding playing an actress who constantly knee-caps herself when faced with a career opportunity. It's not her bets work in this film, but she's convincingly neurotic, even if you want to slap her up-side the head every once in a while.

A nice view into the theatre/ acting world with a bit of intrigue thrown in as well as some nice plot and directorial twists.

Amiable but not particularly interesting

[PeterM27 · 4/10 · 14 July 2022]

This is a series of interlocking stories about each of the actors and their associates, held together by a series of humorous narratives about each of the characters told by Max, the taxi-driver (John Clayton). It's an amiable film, and most of the actors do their best with the material.

But unfortunately, it's not very dramatic, and only mildly funny at times. The actors are fairly normal people, and spend their time worrying about getting good roles in films, or TV programs or on stage. It's only mildly interesting unfortunately.

The most dramatic subplot is the story about the missing video and the corrupt police trying to recover it from the taxi-driver whose girlfriend stole it when she left him. But this subplot appears contrived and not very convincing, and doesn't really fit with the rest of the film.

The fault is probably with Bowman's script, but surprisingly he remade the film in the US nearly 30 years later. The remake was also unsuccessful.

One bright point about Cappuccino is the appearance of Ernie Dingo as a standup comedian.

Entertaining, funny...well worth a look

[ksaelagnulraon · 7/10 · 14 January 2002]

As actor-cum-cabbie Max is relaying the events of the recent past to an unknown audience, we meet his acting friends Maggie (your typical 40-year-old woman who can't get a gig), Larry (a conceited TV soap star), Anna (a successful theatre star) and Celia (a mid-20s wannabe who earns money delivering pizzas). It's one of the better exposes on the life behind the scenes of the typical actor - we're not talking Hollywood stars here, or even Australian film stars: this is about the "other" 95% of actors who struggle for employment regularly. It does slip into crime-thriller mode for a little bit, but this is necessary to finish Max's story. All in all, a good film, with a good script and polished performances, particularly from Clayton, Wallace and Drynan. Not for everyone, but that's the beauty of it. 7/10