French Roast (2008)

In a fancy Parisian Café, an uptight businessman discovers he forgot to bring his wallet and bides his time by ordering more coffee.

Director:

Fabrice Joubert

Writer:

Fabrice Joubert

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins.

Storyline

A disheveled man picks up litter on a street using a stick with a nail on its end. In a bar, a cigar-smoking swell reads the financial section of a newspaper. The vagabond enters, the upstanding man ignores a request for alms, the hobo exits. The gent can't find his wallet, so he orders espresso after espresso as he ponders what to do. The vagabond returns, a napping nun at the next table gives him money, and the gent considers pilfering her purse. As the evening drags on, the bill for espresso mounts. A detective tacks up a wanted poster. Among the waiter, detective, nun, vagabond, and gent-in-a-jam, can luck or kindness find their way into the bar?

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Plot Keywords:

cigar smoking | waiter | newspaper | wanted poster | coffee | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

19 February 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Francouzská pecene

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bibo Films, Pumpkin Factory

Technical Specs

Runtime:

8 min 8 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Brief Film Reviews: The 2009 Nominees for Best Animated Short (2010)

User Reviews

Nicely captures the psychology of everyday life

This Oscar nominated short animation is about a businessman who goes into a café for a cup of coffee. He finds out he doesn't have his wallet when he is about to pay. he has to find ways to come up with money to foot the bill.

"French Roast" is simple, yet well made. The quality of the animation is good, with well designed backgrounds and humorously designed characters. The story nicely captures the psychology of everyday life, about how people react to beggars and about how good people feel about doing bad. The ending twist is also comical, and yet illustrates how a random act of kindness can make a difference to another person. I enjoyed watching "French Roast".