Very Cool!!!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A lonely German woman decides to spend some time at a roadside inn in a desolate desert town in the U.S. West. The film gets off to a bad start, with a man and a woman apparently having a fight, but it plays like a silent film without titles, so it's not clear what is going on and no explanation is provided. It becomes engaging once Sagebrecht settles down at the café and starts to change the lives of the locals. However, there's no rhyme or reason to the plot. The focus is on quirky characters and situations, and it is charming enough in terms of quirkiness. There are good performances from Sagebrecht, Pounder, and Palance.

I loved Marian Sagebrecht in Sugar Baby. Great actor. I missed Bagdad Cafe when it came out so I jut watched it. AWFUL!No sense of place or context. No character development or exegesis. Most of the roles seem "pasted" into the script like Colorforms - they are all cartoon characters. CCH Pounder plays Brenda at only two levels - a perpetually angry and unlikable woman, and then as an inexplicable softy - my only wonder about the movie was what took her husband so long to leave her. The ending was ludicrous - I thought it could have been an SNL skit and I was waiting for Will Farrell to appear as Robert Goulet on trucker tour.And whoever Jevetta Steele is, who sings the soundtrack, her voice is most irritating.I will say that the cinematography and editing were very good.

This movie has been one of my favorites for a long time. In fact, I was first inspired to watch it only after listening to a CD of the soundtrack. I think one reason the kids don't "get it" is that the film is really a character study of adult behavior, without the typical gimmicks that sell movies nowadays: hand-to-hand combat, car chases, gunfire, million-dollar stunts, and bombastic sex. I think that this movie appeals primarily to people who watch a movie to learn something--about themselves or about human nature. And it delivers, providing a wonderful expose' of the intricacies and development of interpersonal relationships. The unusual setting of the desert café, along with the quirkiness of the characters and the outstanding musical score, just add spice to the sauce. Definitely a film for "thinking men and women," it takes some effort to "get it" - something most of today's moviegoers are unwilling to expend.

To me this movie started off a little slow but once I got into the story and the characters I was there. The supporting cast delivers mediocre acting at times and I couldn't decide whether the directing was bad enough to be original or just original - but it all just worked.The starring actors (CCH Pounder and Marianne Sägebrecht) delivers the soul of the movie. The director also has to be given credit by avoiding a lot of cliché moments that at least I expected to come at times. He's leaving a lot unsaid, but says quite enough.The pace for this one is rather slow compared to todays movies so you gotta have some time to sit down - but if you have just that, I think you'll have a nice stay at the Bagdad Gas and Oil Café!