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Cape of Good hope

2004, Movie, PG-13, 107 mins

Cape of Good hope: Review

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE
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South African director Mark Bamford's sweet-natured ensemble film doesn't shy away from addressing issues of racism ¡ both black and white — such as unequal opportunity, sexual exploitation of domestic workers or poverty in the townships, but integrates them into tightly woven stories about ordinary people doing the best to live their lives, raise their children and do a little good when the opportunity arises. Estranged from her father and enmeshed in an unsatisfying affair with a married man, Kate (Debbie Brown), the slightly chubby daughter of a self-absorbed, much-married airhead (Clare Marshall) who's dating a much younger plastic surgeon, has always related better to dogs than people. She has a houseful of dogs, and her trust fund allows her to run the ramshackle Good Hope animal shelter. She hardly notices the tentative advances of Morne (Morne Visser), the widowed veterinarian who attends to her animals. Sharifa Nur (Quanita Adams), the shelter's receptionist, is desperate to get pregnant but as a Muslim woman she's hesitant to see the male doctor Kate recommends. Congolese refugee Jean Claude LeReve (Eriq Ebouaney), a professor of astronomy back home and a talented musician, works for Kate at the shelter and is trying to emigrate to Canada because there's work there, even if he has to fix phones. Jean Claude makes the rehabilitation of an abandoned "white dog" — a snarling rottweiler who's been trained to hate black people — his personal project, patiently feeding him treats and humming "Frères Jacques" to the dog under the starry night sky. While performing at a shelter event, he catches the eye of Lindiwe (Nthati Moshesh), who works as a domestic for an Afrikaner couple while struggling to put herself through school and support her 10-year-old son, Thabo (Kamo Masilo). Lindiwe's mother despises foreigners and wants Lindiwe to marry the reverend of their church, but Lindiwe sees Jean Claude's strong heart and the way he treats Thabo, whom he helps with homework and encourages to study. It's hopeful without being saccharine and predictable without making you feel stupid for wanting Kate to reconcile with her dad and give Morne a chance, Lindiwe to defy her mother, Sharifa to get pregnant or postapartheid South Africa to pull itself free from the mire of its ugly history. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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