Rating: 
Summary: Solid movie
Review: This is not a movie I would have ever watched if someone had described it to me, so I had to think a while about why I would recommend it. Here are the reasons I came up with. First, this is a great story. The movie flows well, keeps you wondering what's going to happen next, and the ending satisfies. Second, it only takes about fifteen minutes before you feel as if you live in the family-like atmosphere at the Bagdad Cafe/Motel. The characters are quirky, but down-to-earth and real: CCH Pounder is awesome in the role of the paranoid self-martyr; Marianne Sägebrecht is simply lovable; Jack Palance is a little creepy, but likeable and funny as an aged hippie (seeing him in such an odd role is almost worth buying the movie just for this). Third, it made me laugh - not belly laughs, but chuckles (mostly at the expense of the characters flaws)that might take a second viewing of the movie once you've learned more about the characters. Fourth, this movie has a great, but unforced message about accepting others for what they are, and just loosening up and living your life.
Buy this movie. It might not be one you'll pull out for the guys on poker night, but it will be one you can watch ten years from now and know it's a classic.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Movie
Review: When I watched this movie for the first time, I was quite surprised. Because I had to watch it for my class assignment, so at first, I did not expect much. However, unexpectedly, the movie was a thing! Above all, I like all the characters in that movie. Jasmin, (Actress Marianne S?ebrecht-Sugarbaby) a German woman abandoned by her husband in the Mojave desert becomes a member of the society of Bagdad caf? I was deeply affected by the process of her belonging into a kooky community at a remote caf? Jasmin as a typical German housewife, she likes all things clean and neat. She always wants to put things in order and sweep. At first, she goes through some quarrels with Brenda during getting to understand each other. Finally, the hostess gets to accept her sincerity, and Jasmin gradually succeeds in changing the sleepy and desolate coffee shop into a fascinating and popular roadside refuge. Jasmin, armed with a mop and a magic kit, brings happiness into the wasteland. She, as a German woman, makes an American remote community into a mixture spot of two cultures-neatness & freedom and self-centered world. Maybe this is a German movie, so the director wants to show the virtues of Germany. Due to this point, the good things of Germany are embossed much more than America, I think. Anyhow, I felt that it was quite successful and appealed.
The second character, Brenda, (Actress C.C.H. Pounder-television series: ER) gives an atypically sloppy impression as the caf?owner. She is always spunky, loud and bad-tempered. She does not trust other person if he is a stranger. Brenda, the owner, doubts her guest, Jasmin, only because she has a trunk filled with just man's clothes and seems suspicious. She is very unyielding even to her husband, so makes her husband leave the house. She has a family of a son who is young but already father of a baby and a girl who likes to go out with guys. However, after Jasmin's arrival, she gets much confusion. What she thought as her own proper world but not hopeful begins to stagger, and she gets angry with that. At the beginning, she does not want to have changes in her life, so she is hostile to the newcomer. She gets in trouble with Jasmin a few times, and finally, she gets to understand and resemble her. Those two women actually had many common things like husband who left her, feeling solitude and needing somebody who can apprehend considerately and accept herself as she is. They did not recognize some common things in their minds at first, but later, they could promote mutual understanding each other. They become true friends from the bottom of their hearts.
Third, Jack Palance acts as a wonderful as an artist who wants to capture on canvas the beauty he perceives in the rotund Jasmin's warm. He caught her own beauty in his drawings and painted her with slightly unreal colors. Those portraits of her contain almost everything what the films wants to show us, I think. It gives the film a hint of fantasy and time standing still for a life. The artist knew how to manifest her innate beauty to the outer world. He captured what others could not see but exist obviously. Her beauty maybe exists in all of us, and the director tells us to find each power and beauty. The artist falls in live with Jasmin during painting, and then succeeds to get married with her.
Other characters in that movie are all same kind of people. They are neglected by the society, and just live in their own community 'Bagdad caf?. They do not have hopes to make any achievements.
Brenda's son has a baby but does not have a wife. He has no skill for living, and just does nothing except playing the piano. He loves music, but his mother, Brenda hates that. He hopes somebody who understands his music to appear. Suddenly, Jasmin appears in front of him, and he retakes happiness from having someone who likes his playing.
Another guy, a traveler, is an exception who shows the liveliness. He is the unique person among the nerveless people except Jasmin. He always throws a boomerang. That boomerang flies away but comes back soon. It means many things. Maybe I can tell that the boomerang's flight suggests Jasmin's fate. Jasmin leaves for her country, Germany because of visa problems, but comes back to her real life in Bagdad caf? For she found her soul in remote American desert, she could not help coming back there.
"Bagdad Caf? ranks near the top of my life favorite movies list. With wonderful performances by the entire actors and actresses (especially the acts between Sagebrecht-'Jasmin?and Pounder-'Brenda?, the focus is on the power of friendship and understanding. Rigidly coiled in tweeds, Jasmin is formal and uptight, yet curious. Equally enclosed in anger, Brenda is cold and has a distant air. Yet these two women find common grounds- the fact of their both having been abandoned--to create (literally) magic, even joy.
I feel that the painter in the movie (Actor Palance) is very lovely and also seems a little sad. He finds beauty in attractive Jasmin and gently assists in her emancipation.
The soundtrack is, as it were, one of my favorite soundtracks. The title song "I Am Calling You" is really unforgettable and perfect. It matches very well with this movie. The perfect accompaniment to a place and time and a group of people whose lives are reinvented and greatly improved as a result of their moving past former imposed constraints (both social and circumstantial) to find a real happiness simply in being alive.
Rating:
Summary: Deeply affecting
Review: Bagdad Cafe ranks near the top of my all-time favorite movies list. With wonderful performances by the entire cast (but especially the dynamics between Sagebrecht and Pounder), the focus is on the freeing power of friendship and understanding. Rigidly girdled in tweeds, Sagebrecht is uptight and uncertain, yet curious. Equally girdled in anger, Pounder is frosty and remote. Yet these two women find common ground--without ever pressing the obvious: the fact of their both having been abandoned--to create (literally) magic, even joy. Palance (in one of his non-grotesque roles) is lovely as the heartstruck artist who finds beauty in the winsome Sagebrecht and gently assists in her emancipation. The soundtrack is haunting and unforgettable--"I Am Calling You"-- the perfect accompaniment to a place and time and a group of people whose lives are reinvented and greatly improved as a result of their moving past former imposed constraints (both societal and circumstantial) to find a very real happiness simply in being alive.
Rating:
Summary: I am calling you.....
Review: This brilliant German/American production is so quirky that it's not surprising some people don't get it, yet its quirkiness is absolutely perfect for the subject matter. It's the story of a lonely diner halfway between Vegas and nowhere, in the California desert, and that isolation parallels the isolation being experienced by each cast member.... ....until a castoff German tourist arrives and insists on binding them together and making this a happy place rather than a dreary waystation of despair. The German/American production team resulted in a film that's not as hard for US viewers to follow as many European films are, but still contains many of the more artistic and abstract elements that make European films such a joy to watch. It also manages to focus on two female characters without wallowing in mush and becoming a "chick flick." It's almost beyond belief how good this film is. Is it my favorite of all time? That's very hard to nail down, but I'd certainly list it among favorites of very different styles as "Casablanca" and "Airplane!" Not a bad achievement for a little independent from about 15 years ago. On my list of offbeat comedies with a heart, it belongs #1a/1b with "Local Hero." Five stars for sure, and six if I could manage it.
Rating:
Summary: Calling You
Review: Baghdad Cafe will haunt you. Will creep into your mind later with no reason than to remind you (with a subtle dry humor) others struggle, like yourself, to fit in, be understood, and accepted. Holly Cole singing "Calling You" adds to the enchantment and strength behind the characters. If you want to escape from your own troubles, I recommend that you join this cast of misfits as they find each other and themselves.
Rating:
Summary: a desert road from vegas to nowhere...
Review: One of my favorite movies! The acting is excellent, the plot, fantastic. A quirky little independent movie with a lot of heart, and some really engaging music. Don't miss the main song, "I am calling you..." An extremely moving and beautiful song... it will stay with you, as will this movie. Super cute.
Rating:
Summary: to die for
Review: an excellent movie that has survived by work of mouth and a cult following for years - this movie should be viewed by all but the die hard macho variety= view, buy, and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: I Love Bagdad Cafe
Review: I recently saw this movie on the Sundance Channel on cable. I was so taken by it I obtained the DVD. The quality of the picture was even better. This movie is very moving and enjoyable. "I'm calling you", the movies title song is hypnotic. I have watched the movie countless times and enjoy it more each time I see it. I also obtained the movie soundtrack on cd. It has all the songs from the movie and a narrated version of the movie by Percy Adlon. If you like quirky but thought proving films, definitely get this one!
Rating:
Summary: WARM, POETIC & ENCHANTING
Review: Bagdad Café gathered top awards at the Rio Festival in 1988 and they were well deserved. Magic, warmth and charm are brought to a little hotel out in the middle of nowhere by a somewhat bulky Bavarian housewife. Despite her size, her femininity comes through in her slippers: delicate, soft and sensual, they symbolize her womanhood and help make those around her fall in love with her. She even inspires an artist to paint her in the style of Botticelli. Large, voluptuous people can rest assured that size need not detract from their deep spiritual essence. Watching this sensitive, human movie is a most rewarding experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard too dislike
Review: As odd as it this film is, it's hard too dismiss it or dislike it. The story is so unique. I've never really seen another film quite like it. Good performances all around. This is one of those films that isn't really for everyone. But even if you watch it and it turns out it's far from one of your favorites... Well, I doubt you'll regret it. This film is too vibrant, one of those films that's just impossible to dislike.
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