Thoughts on Bagdad Cafe

 

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"Good evening, Miss Jasmin."
"Good evening, Miss Brenda."

Any movie that suggests the height of friendship is sharing in a Las Vegas-style floor show certainly can't be written off. Bagdad Cafe, directed by Percy Adlon, who co-wrote with wife Eleonore, grew on me. At first I figured the movie would be a slog to get through. How many more movies will I see with opposites attract pairings? Cafe has an conspicuously mismatched duo, Black, cranky wife, mother and truck stop operator Brenda (CCH Pounder) and German Jasmin (Marianne Sägebrecht), both formerly married and a tourist. With nowhere else to go (she's got her ex-husband's suitcase), Jasmin stays at Brenda's motel. The whole place is overdue for a full cleaning. It gets that, and Brenda and Jasmin each receive long-overdue kindness.

Sägebrecht has the more audience-friendly role, of the fish in new water who charms those around her. They include Rudi Cox (Jack Palance), a retired matte painter whose courtship with Jasmin progresses with each new portrait. Brenda, who just got rid of husband Sal (G. Smokey Campbell), has two children. Salomo (Darron Flagg) is preoccupied with music* instead of his infant son. Phyllis (Monica Calhoun) does little else than hang out with boys. There's also Debby (Christine Kaufmann), beloved by every trucker, likely for more than the tattoos she gives. Cahuenga (George Aguilar) serves the food and Arnie (Apesanahkwat) is the sheriff. I'm not surprised that Cafe was adapted for American TV**. What's surprising is that the Adlons didn't first try the story out as a play. Pounder certainly plays to the back seats for unfortunately too long.

*It got to the point where I wanted someone to shout, "Quit playing the damn piano!"

**A short-lived sitcom, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Jean Stapleton.

Cafe is a slow-burner. Still, if you stick with the movie, you'll be rewarded with ample beauty. For example, the cafe is seen during sunsets with various hues. Beauty also comes with the romance. Sägebrecht and Palance are at their best when Jasmin models. That's no small feat if the claim at IMDB is true and Palance didn't actually find Sägebrecht attractive. Cafe works because Jasmin is attractive, whether physically or just as someone you would want to keep an eye on. It feels fitting that she first wins over the truckers with magic tricks. Brenda is won over with a combination of patience, mutual understanding (refreshingly, nothing more needs to be said once the ladies realize the other's deep loneliness) and charm. Jasmin, working in America without a green card, makes her way back to the cafe. That's not surprising. Nor is it surprising that Brenda is overjoyed by her return. Cafe has one of the best portrayals of friendship that I've seen in a while.

"And nothing's so tragic/cause it's all about magic/

Take it away/love sa-aves the day

When it's showtime at the Bagdad/Gas and Oil Cafe/

When it's showtime at the Bagdad/Gas and Oil Cafe (High note from Brenda)/

When it's showtime, there is no tiiime/

When it's showtime at the Bagdad/Gas and Oil Cafe!"

Recommended with reservations.

Thoughts:
-- "Jesus, I hate things that don't make sense."
-- Box Office: This grossed nearly $3.6 million in the United States.
-- Awards Watch/Musical Moments: "Calling You" was nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Song. The screenplay won the Bavarian Film Award and Percy Adlon won the Lubitsch.

-- Critic's Corner, the movie: "Takes more delight in the zaniness and variety of its characters than many viewers will," Janet Maslin wrote. "(It) finds a tantalizing exoticism in all the wrong places." "It also offers a renewed, endearingly quirky vision of America ... as a place with plenty of room for self-discovery and individuality," according to Kevin Thomas. "Walks its own strange and lovely path," Roger Ebert observed.

-- Critic's Corner, the actresses: Sägebrecht was described by Maslin as "an actress of great if indescribable appeal." Rita Kempley: "(She's) the most alluring full-figured girl since Jane Russell." Desson Howe found that Pounder gave an "irritatingly irritable performance," but Thomas felt she was as strong of an actress as Meryl Streep. "... She takes us through Brenda's rage, and an aftermath of numbed calm, to the dazzling smile and uninhibited laughter of a woman who has rediscovered her long-misplaced sense of humor."

-- It's not important why the Münchgstettners broke up, which of course makes me want to know exactly what happened. Maybe he wanted to stay in America and she thought he was being a fool.

-- For the record, I watched the 108-minute cut.

-- Next: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. On deck: Big.