Movie Review - Last Chance Cafe

Last Chance Cafe

2006

The Cast

If there were ever a time there was the last chance for you to watch this film I'd advise on missing it.  Unless you like slow and laborious, go nowhere stories, with next to no storyline, that is.

The only real saving grace this film had were the actors and actresses as they really did try.  Though they never quite appear to save the film as there's just too much wrong with it.  There's bad dialogue, worse camera shots, inactive action sequences, and a storyline that appears cobbled together.  If you took out all the unnecessary scenes for the pivotal ones, you would lose over half the film.

This to me is a waste of a decent cast.  I've mostly enjoyed everything Kevin Sorbo and Samantha Ferris have been in, but not this.  I cannot lay the blame at the feet of the cast at all because they all do a decent job with their characters.  It's just that there's not much for them to get their teeth into.  Which is a shame as the synopsis should allow for a multitude of interesting scenes.

Hallie (Vernon) used to be married to the District Attorney, even though her stepfather was against the marriage and had misgivings about her husband Paul (Novak).  At her stepfather's funeral, she learns that he might have been silenced.  An old friend of his passes across some evidence to Hallie at the graveside.  She is shocked to see photographs of her ex in the company of corrupt cops.  When her suspicions are confirmed she packs her daughter and herself into the car and off they run.  The car breaks down but luckily for them, they're in one of the friendliest and littlest towns in America.  She quickly gets a job in the cafe, a house on Chance's (Zorbo) ranch, and she doesn't have to worry about the car repairs - until she can afford it... where is this small town I wanna move in(?)

This all happens in the first fifteen minutes of the film, so the rest is going to be packed with the dirty cops and bent DA chasing her down... well... no!  They'll kidnap the daughter to trade her for the evidence?.. no!  There'll at least be a big shootout between the bad and good guys?.. no!  The rest of the film is pretty much filled with mushy stuff, which could be forgivable if it were done well.  This film had so much scope but you can push the storyline through the eye of a sewing needle it's that thin.

The only reason I'd recommend this flick to anyone is to show them how not to make a film - or how to make a boring film, especially if they're involved in trying to cure insomnia.

I give this snoozefest a 3.5 out of 10.

The Film Clip