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Movies / On DVD / Cape Of Good Hope
Cape Of Good Hope

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Cape Of Good Hope (2005)

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Reviews Counted:31

Fresh:21

Rotten:10

Average Rating:6.4/10

Consensus: This little South African film takes a different approach -- putting politics in the background and ordinary people front and center. Overall, it's a heartwarming effort.

Rated: PG-13

Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Nov 11, 2005 Limited

Synopsis: The new South Africa is revealed in Cape of Good Hope, a colorful and vibrant mosaic of love and hope. A profoundly optimistic film, Cape of Good Hope is, in the words of writer-director Mark... The new South Africa is revealed in Cape of Good Hope, a colorful and vibrant mosaic of love and hope. A profoundly optimistic film, Cape of Good Hope is, in the words of writer-director Mark Bamford, "a movie about people just trying to live. It's not about black and white, it's not about politics, but about human beings." In the tradition of such rich, multi-layered films as Ang Lee's Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding, and Robert Altman and John Sayles's sociological slice-of-life pictures, Cape of Good Hope beautifully interweaves a number of storylines, all revolving around a Cape Town animal rescue shelter. The faces of Hope are: Jean Claude (Eriq Ebouaney of Raoul Peck's awardwinning film, Lumumba), a refugee from war-torn Congo who finds himself torn between love and the promise of asylum in the West; Lindiwe (Nthati Moshesh), a single mother and housekeeper trying to make a life for herself and her son while finding a way out of the township once and for all; Sharifa (Quanita Adams) and Habib (David Isaacs), a young Muslim couple unable to have children of their own yet desperate to have a family; Morne (Morne Visser), a recently widowed vet who wants to believe that true love can strike twice; and Kate (Debbie Brown), the emotionally guarded founder of the animal shelter, who seems to relate better to stray dogs than to people. Cape of Good Hope is the first feature film written and directed by Mark Bamford—award-winning director of the short film, Hero—along with his wife, cowriter and producing partner, Suzanne Kay (daughter of show business legend Diahann Carroll). Themselves recent transplants to South Africa, the couple found inspiration for Cape of Good Hope through their experiences working as volunteers with children and refugees. Filmed entirely on location in the Cape Town coastal community of Hout Bay, and cast solely with African actors, Cape of Good Hope substitutes a hard-won, deeply felt sense of humanism for the clichés and political bombast audiences are familiar with from many films set in Africa. [More]

Starring: Debbie Brown, Eriq Ebouaney, Nthati Moshesh, Morne Visser

Starring: Debbie Brown, Eriq Ebouaney, Nthati Moshesh, Morne Visser

Director: Mark Bamford

Director: Mark Bamford
Studio: Artistic License

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Release:

Aug 15, 2006

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Reviews for Cape Of Good Hope

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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A socially-relevant and meaningful film from South Africa which supplies plenty of reasons to feel optimistic about humanity's prospects.

Full Review Source: EURWeb | comment Comment
03/28/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
EURWeb

Mostly manages to feel authentic and uplifting, putting a human face on a complex colonial culture.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Maria Garcia
Maria Garcia
Film Journal International

Cape of Good Hope is a film about people we want so very much to love, people who keep us watching - and keep us smiling.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
08/14/06
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

... there's a temptation to call Cape a South African Crash, but it lacks both complexity and compromised characters.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
01/24/06
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Brown's spunky, funny Kate helps hold the piece together.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
01/20/06
John Hartl
John Hartl
Seattle Times

There's so much Altmanesque activity in the film that even if some storylines temporarily don't work, others keep making up for them.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
01/13/06
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No matter how heavy-handed the sentimentality gets, the film's intentions seem sincere.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
01/05/06
Jeff Strickler
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Around the margins of the story are characters whose behavior is unique.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
01/05/06
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

A post-apartheid film in which the characters are less concerned with politics than with matters of the heart.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/05/06
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
12/18/05
Boxoffice Magazine

Despite its shortcomings, Cape of Good Hope is a hopeful piece of humanism that is difficult to begrudge too much.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
12/18/05
Steve Davis
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle

The stories are interlinked effectively, and the film strikes an upbeat note yet does not address racism and discrimination. For all its affection toward its characters, however, the film is too long and too slack.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
12/16/05
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
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With its warm heart and charming characters, Good Hope is a good choice.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
12/16/05
E! Online

Grounded in the easy rhythms of daily life, this charming little film shows unexpected grit.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
12/15/05
Chuck Wilson
Chuck Wilson
L.A. Weekly

The film's strengths are offset by flaws including an excessiveness cutesiness (there are far too many shots of adorable puppies), a tendency toward sentimental cliches and too many jarring shifts in tone.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
12/13/05
Frank Scheck
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A South African movie that departs from the political strife of Apartheid - there are still issues of race and class, but they're approached in a more roundabout, accessible way that isn't so in your face.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
12/03/05
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

It's hopeful but not saccharine, ambitious but only occasionally broad. And the fact that it's set in a country still grappling with the legacy of apartheid makes its good will all the more relevant.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
12/02/05
Chris Vognar
Chris Vognar
Dallas Morning News
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[A] warmhearted film ...

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
11/23/05
Ruthe Stein
Ruthe Stein
San Francisco Chronicle
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I like the spirit of it and some of the performances but [there are] too many cutesy whimsical moments, too many coincidences that just kind of neatly tied things together.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
11/21/05
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The picture isn't devoid of substance, but it doesn't allow itself to get mired in message either. It conveys its themes via likable, relatable protagonists.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
11/16/05
Lisa Rose
Lisa Rose
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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