Bagdad Cafe

This unpredictable PG-rated comedy begins with a stout German couple making a "pit stop" in the middle of the Mojave desert. Before the scene ends, he has deserted her, leaving her there in a wool suit and indoor shoes, with a suitcase and a long dusty highway stretched out ahead.

Now we switch to the frazzled proprietor of a gas station/motel/diner who is reminded again that her worthless husband is just that: Worthless! This gal is perpetually provoked; by her forgetful husband, her piano-playing son, and her popular (with the boys) teenage daughter.

When our overheated frau trudges into the motel office, our story begins.

We see:

• Marianne Sägebrecht (Lots of German TV) is Jasmin, scrupulously tidy, extremely polite and at her wit's end. She has traveler's checks, so she can pay for her room...but her husband left her with HIS suitcase, not hers, so she has no clothes after all.
• CCH Pounder ("NCIS: New Orleans") is Brenda, taxed beyond bearing by all who surround her. She is exasperated, furious and sad. She thinks her son's piano playing "sounds like a sewing machine!" Watch when Jasmin cleans up her motel office without permission!
• Jack Palance ("City Slickers") Rudy is a retired Hollywood set decorator. He lives in a nearby travel trailer and dabbles in oils as a hobby; he won't rest until he paints Jasmin.

When Brenda discovers unexplained menswear in Jasmin's room, she leaves her vacuum cleaner and rushes to the office to call the Sheriff. He can't find any reason to arrest Jasmin, so leaves her there, to Brenda's dismay.

You will watch Jasmin teach herself to do magic tricks (there was a box with instructions in her husband's suitcase); you will enjoy the evolution of her portraits by Rudy; and you will worry when Jasmin's tourist visa runs out.

Expect some mild nudity, no profanity, no gunshots, no vehicular mayhem and no blowie uppie stuff; you'll see subtle comedy, warm humanity and just plain fun! I'm sad to say there are no closed captions, so be warned...

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No trailer (except on the DVD), sorry.
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