On her way to work Emma stops off for her usual cup of coffee and for some reason is quite touched by the perfectly polite platitudes that they exchange as well as being given a warm feeling by the latte he served her. Otherwise the day is the usual, never-ending dreary affair. The next day she gets served by the same barista and the exchange of money for services takes on more significance to her than perhaps it should.
Although the title credits both main characters, the focus of the film here is very much Emma and much of the narrative has less to do with the barista as a character but as a device that somehow offers her more than her dreary job. So what we have here is a film that could speak to many people if it was done really well and it is a shame that it isn't. There is not anything wrong with it if all it was looking to do was deliver a very obvious story but I cannot imagine that this very basic end product was the ultimate goal of the makers. I would hope that they, like me, were aiming to have a really good character in Emma someone we all sympathise and empathise with as the majority of us work to pay the bills rather than because of the love of it. Certainly to do this with the film all the events are in place but sadly there is not the depth in the writing, characterisation and plot that makes it of more value.
The direction is solid with good editing to put it all together but there is just a real lack of humanity within the telling that killed it for me, because this is what it should all have been about. A shame and a real disappointment then because, while Emma & The Barista has all the events in place, the makers cannot make it more than that, which doesn't add up to a terrible lot more than a good idea undelivered.
Although the title credits both main characters, the focus of the film here is very much Emma and much of the narrative has less to do with the barista as a character but as a device that somehow offers her more than her dreary job. So what we have here is a film that could speak to many people if it was done really well and it is a shame that it isn't. There is not anything wrong with it if all it was looking to do was deliver a very obvious story but I cannot imagine that this very basic end product was the ultimate goal of the makers. I would hope that they, like me, were aiming to have a really good character in Emma someone we all sympathise and empathise with as the majority of us work to pay the bills rather than because of the love of it. Certainly to do this with the film all the events are in place but sadly there is not the depth in the writing, characterisation and plot that makes it of more value.
The direction is solid with good editing to put it all together but there is just a real lack of humanity within the telling that killed it for me, because this is what it should all have been about. A shame and a real disappointment then because, while Emma & The Barista has all the events in place, the makers cannot make it more than that, which doesn't add up to a terrible lot more than a good idea undelivered.