Chinese Coffee

2000

Drama

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 74%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 74% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.0/10 10 4950 5K

new york city friendship jealousy photographer writing chinatown

Director

Al Pacino Photo
Al Pacino

Top cast

Al Pacino Photo
Al Pacino as Harry Levine
Susan Floyd Photo
Susan Floyd as Joanna
Madison Arnold Photo
Madison Arnold as Nightclub patron
Neal Jones Photo
Neal Jones as Eteocles / Actor in play
480p.DVD
864.49 MB
720*464
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  ru  
23.976 fps
1 hr 37 min
Seeds 12

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by gavin6942 7 / 10

An Unpretentious Look at Pretentiousness

Harry Levine (Al Pacino) and Jake Manheim (Jerry Orbach), two unsuccessful writers, spend a cathartic evening arguing about money, aesthetics, their friendship, and Harry's new manuscript.This film, based on a Broadway play (which had starred Pacino) is well-adapted by director Al Pacino (it helps that there was minimal stuff to direct). The origin as a play is fairly obvious, given how much is talk and how little is action (and I wonder if they had to add or modify scenes to create additional movement and scenery).While not one of the greatest films ever, and not even one of Pacino's best, it has its moments and it is a great interaction between two people. If you like a lot of dialogue and bickering (think "Clerks" without all the dirty talk) and miss Jerry Orbach, this is the film for you.
Reviewed by CRCFleetwood 6 / 10

Echo "Futures" Comment

I just watched this on DVD, and although it offered some interesting moments and insights, the dialog felt forced and the two main actors, both of whom have done great work in other projects, didn't seem to click. On the DVD, there's an epilogue in the "features" section in which Pacino, who also directed, wondered whether there were too many flashbacks. Actually, I thought the flashbacks were enlivening, enabling the story to be more involving than it might otherwise have been. Pacino also mentions that because of Orbach's "Law and Order" shooting schedule, they were forced to film 84 pages of dialog in 21 days, perhaps explaining, at least in part, why the film feels a little undercooked.
Reviewed by leplatypus 7 / 10

Star(no)buck (web)

For his 2nd movie, Al gives us an unusual movie, maybe imperfect but original and totally personal. We are far away of a big production and big issues as the movie is a nightly discussion between two friends that have real troubles to live with their art. Honestly, I see no difference between this fiction character and the real Al that was unveiled in his first movie: Al is a simple guy that loves NYC and his passion is more for stage than acting. Nowadays when stars are obsessed with their look, Al just doesn't care, even if his bent attitude and ugly clothes, he may look as a tramp. It's funny to see that getting older, he has gone from godfather, mayor, the devil to lefty, Shylock and this penniless beret writer! In a funny way, he's like an old Serpico who hadn't leave his basement accommodation! However, inside, he's still the same great guy: supportive, helpful but sometimes a bit grumpy and always ready to scream! But, what the heck, we are humans so imperfect and it's better to be straight and noisy than devious and smiling! Thus, even if the stage is minimal and narrow, we have access to all those nuances from Al and his buddy is great to share the ball. There are even funny moments and a good reflexion about artists' condition. In a way, Al didn't look for big effects but true, simple moments. It may be a waste but finally, it's like you can share a evening with him, talking about life and nothing, and thus it's infinitely valuable.
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