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 9 wins & 7 nominations.

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:

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

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Genres:

Animation | Short

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Certificate:

TV-PG

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 The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010)

User Reviews

A very good short, but it probably won't be the Oscar winner

This is the third straight year that I have gone to the local theater to view the Oscar-nominated animated shorts. And, like the past two years, I am going to make my predictions about the winner in this category. I would say, however, my record isn't great when it comes to the animated films--I seem to be better at picking the live action shorts instead. However, I don't think I'm stepping out on a limb at all to say that it's highly unlikely FRENCH ROAST will take the top prize. This isn't to say that it's a bad film--it isn't bad at all and I definitely enjoyed it. It's just that there were a few that really stood out much more and seemed to be THE films to beat--in particular, THE LADY AND THE REAPER and LOGORAMA.

I seemed to enjoy this film more than my daughter (who I took with me to see them). She said it was "easy to forget" but I appreciated much of it. The CG animation was very nice as was the character design.

As for the story, though slight, it made me laugh and was enjoyable from start to finish. It starts by showing a very dirty hobo walking the streets with a cloud of bugs following him. Inside the nearby café, a snooty looking guy pretends not to see the man when he then enters the café to beg for money. What happens next is pretty funny and I won't say any more--it would spoil the film.

Well worth seeing and very well made.