An aging, high-ranking, workaholic public servant meets a young girl in a London coffee shop, starting a story which balances on an unlikely romance and a powerful political message.

Lawrence, portrayed by Bill Nighy of The Pirates of the Carribean and Love Actually , is a senior adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or the British equivalent of our minister of finance. He personifies the stereotype of the elder, brilliant bureaucrat who is clueless when it comes to socializing with other people.

Kelly McDonald (Trainspotting) plays Gina who is a mysterious young woman seeming as if she represents a totally different world in the beginning of the film, despite her loitering in the same coffee shops as executives and officials in the City area of London. What we don’t know about her however will play a significant role during the course of the movie.

During the course of the TV drama, directed by David Yates (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) and broadcast by the BBC in England and HBO in the United States in 2005, we see the contrast becoming sharper as the characters are drawn closer to each other. Lawrence tries to find time to see Gina, but never attempts to make a move on her. Finally, Lawrence invites Gina to accompany him to a G8 conference in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Richard Curtis (Mr. Bean, Blackadder, Four Weddings and a Funeral), the writer of the film, uses Gina in order to make a political statement on African poverty and debt relief, the main item that concerned the real G8 conference in 2005, without omitting the comic lines that made him famous as a writer. Even though some British critics accused him of taking a “Moore-like” stance, the truth is that Gina’s simplification of the issues at hand makes them sentimentally powerful, contrasting them with the more logical approach by the delegates and the “chilly relationships portrayed between England and its supposed allies” in the “appropriately icy backdrop” of Iceland, according to Ruthe Stein of the San Fransisco Chronicle.

Regardless of political views, Lawrence’s character challenges the audiences’ emotions as he tries to overcome his loneliness through Gina. His desperate moves, the way he acts in Gina’s presence and his embarrasement when other colleagues see him with her add up to an excellent performance by Nighy. Despite Curtis’ avoiding to give us too much background on the characters, Lawrence’s character is very convincing and the plot is set up so that we find out who Gina is along with Lawrence, sharing his surprise and grief.

An excellent mix of irony, romance and a diplomatic drama, The Girl in the Café received a 7.6 out of 10 viewer rating at the Internet Movie Database. The film won three Emmy awards in 2006 (Supporting Actress, Writing and Best Miniseries/TV Movie) and was nominated for four others, also capturing one BAFTA TV award.