Feast Of Love Review

Directed by Robert Benton (who made "Kramer vs Kramer") and based on the novel by Charles Baxter, "Feast of Love" stars Morgan Freeman as a recently bereaved professor who witnesses various different love stories unfolding amongst his friends at a local coffee shop. Chief amongst these is perpetually unlucky-in-love coffee store owner Bradley (Greg Kinnear), who meets feisty estate agent Diana (Radha Mitchell) after his wife (Selma Blair) leaves him for another woman, but is unaware that Diana is already involved with a married man (Billy Burke). Similarly, lonely waitress Chloe (Alexa Davalos, whom "Angel" fans might remember as ElectroGirl) takes a chance on a relationship with recovering junkie Oscar (Toby Hemingway), despite a warning from her psychic that it will all end in tears.

Freeman is superb as Henry and it's a treat to see him sink his teeth into a properly dramatic role for once - it actually comes as something of a shock to see him kissing someone, as his usual mentor-type roles don't normally call for that sort of thing. Kinnear is perfectly cast as Bradley and there's strong support from both Radha Mitchell and Alexa Davalos, both of whom have more nude scenes than is strictly necessary.

The film's main problem is that the jumpy chronology leaves the storylines patchy and hard to engage with as a result. In addition, none of the stories are particularly dramatic and the script makes some odd choices - there's no confrontation over Diana's affair, for example. Similarly, the script completely abandons its most interesting storyline, because Selma Blair's character disappears after about twenty minutes.

That said, "Feast of Love" is never less than watchable and it does eventually deliver an emotional punch, even if it's not quite the one you expect.