10 Great Coffee-Related Moments In Movie History
My sister visited me this past weekend and post-German Night (in which a few of my best friends here in Chicago and I eat German food and drink too much German beer), as we attempted to recover enough to the point we could go out for morning (read: afternoon) brunch, we happened upon the 2005 film Kicking & Screaming. Mostly this film is terrible but I will cop to finding the side story of Will Ferrell’s mild-mannered soccer coach Phil Weston getting severely addicted to coffee after the prodding of assistant coach Mike Ditka which aids his meteoric tailspin into facist suburban dictator rather funny. And it was made even funnier because while watching I was desperately craving coffee in my dysfunctional Saturday morning state.
And so for the rest of the weekend my sister and I would randomly, oddly, quote Mike Ditka hollering at his protégé: “Drink the coffee! It’ll make you feel better! It picks you up! It calms you down! It’s the lifeblood that drives the dreams of champions!” You said it, Mike. And that, as it must, got me to thinking. Thus, today I present for your reading pleasure 10 of the greatest coffee-related moments in movie history.
Pulp Fiction. The Wolf (Harvey Keitel) arrives at Jimmy’s house to help Vincent and Jules clean up their, uh, mess. As he is briefed on the situation he mentions to Jimmy he smelled coffee and would like a cup. Jimmy goes off, pours it and brings the mug to The Wolf. The Wolf takes a sip and as if he has momentarily landed in a Hills Bros. commercial he smiles, delighted, and raises the cup to Jimmy as if to give a simultaneous “thanks” and “job well done.” The Wolf may be in crisis mode, but good coffee is good coffee.
Kicking & Screaming. The first time I saw the scene in which Will Ferrell finds himself at the back of a coffee line which leads to him claiming to have a frequent coffee drinker card which leads to a throwdown with an SUV driving woman at the head of the line which leads to him being banned from the coffee shop (“You’re name is liar because you’re telling lies!”) made me laugh so hard I literally cried.
Harper. The film opens with Paul Newman’s down-on-his-luck P.I. Lew Harper waking and tragically discovering his can of trusty coffee grounds to be empty. Uh oh. But then he spies yesterday’s coffee grounds still on the filter in the trash, rescues them and brews himself a “fresh” pot. This, boys and girls, is called an addiction.
L.A. Story. A group lunch on Sunset Boulevard concludes as the camera circles the table from the poor server’s POV as he/she fields ceaseless, escalating calls for coffee. “I’ll have a decaf coffee.” “I’ll have a decaf espresso.” “I’ll have a double decaf cappuccino.” “I’ll have a half double decaf half caf with a twist of lemon.”
Ronin. Realizing Sean Bean’s Spence is up to no good when he diagrams an ambush on a dry erase board, Robert DeNiro’s Sam sets down his cup of coffee as the camera forebodingly lingers on it. Sam then confronts Spence and edges him unwittingly toward the coffee which he runs right into, scalding him. “Tell me about an ambush?!” Sam shouts. “I ambushed you with a f***in’ coffee cup!” That he did.
Once Upon A Time In The West. The ultimate showdown between Bronson and Fonda is offset by a tender scene between Claudia Cardinale and Jason Robards in which, calling back to an earlier moment, she serves him coffee. He takes his first sip and says, satisfied: “Good. My mother used to make coffee this way. Hot, strong and good.”
Top Gun. What happens when Maverick buzzes the tower? Why the Air Boss winds up spilling coffee all over himself, of course.
The Big Heat. Unmerciful Lee Marvin throws hot coffee in the face of Gloria Grahame. Yikes. And what makes it twelve times worse is that we never see it – we only hear the scream.
Alien / Batman Begins. At the very beginning of the Ridley Scott’s Alien the seven member crew of the spaceship Nostromo wakes from stasis and sits down to a meal and coffee. Parker says: “Can I finish my coffee? It’s the only good thing on his ship.” At the very end of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) summons Batman (Christian Bale) via the Bat Signal and clues the Caped Crusader into a bank robber by handing him a Joker playing card. But hey! What’s that in Gordon’s hand? It’s a cup of coffee!
In other words, whether you’re on a spaceship in the 22nd century or firing up the Bat Signal in Gotham City, we all need our coffee.
YOUR TURN! WHAT ARE YOU FAVORITE COFFEE-RELATED MOMENTS IN MOVIE HISTORY?!
44 Comments
Two for me:
Thor: “This drink. I like it. ANOTHER!”
Groundhog Day: Bill Murray chugging straight from the pot.
And this is from someone who never has (and never will) touched a drop of the stuff.
Oh yeah, that Thor one is awesome!! LOVE that scene. Good one Anna.
HOW did I forget that scene in “Groundhog Day”?! I’m so ashamed. Thank you for rectifying that grievous oversight.
Thor one is one of my faves too! Great choice
Great list. Kicking & Screaming is one of the few films I have walked out of (awful movie), but that scene was hilarious. You’ve hit most of the iconic ones; The Big Heat, Pulp Fiction, Harper. I would add the opening post credit scene of Live & Let Die when M visits James Bond at his flat & he makes him a cafe Americano. Also The Wild Bunch; campfire scene with William Holden (Pike) & Ernest Borgnine (Dutch)- DUTCH: Now he does his killing with a coffee cup.
“The Wild Bunch.” Good one.
Great list! Coffee is one of the reasons why I get up early in the morning! As tea, it is a social thing to get coffee and discuss!
Coffee is one of the reasons I get up early, too. Such a haunting aroma.
Not a movie, but Agent Coopers constant coffee drinking in Twin Peaks is really wonderful. Makes a non (or more like semi) coffee drinker like me craving for a cup of it.
I must confess I have not seen “Twin Peaks.”
Fun list! That reminds me, I need another cup of coffee right now…
What?? No scene from “Coffee and Cigarettes”??? For shame, for shame!!
I know!!! Such an excellent film. Plus, seeing Bill Murray drinking it from the pot in that film as well.
When I went to compose this list I told myself I wasn’t allowed any scenes from “Coffee and Cigarettes.” It’s kinda like how if I ever make a film set in Paris I am not going to show the Eiffel Tower.
Yes, Bill Murray entered the highest echelon of my heroes after I saw him drink coffee out of the pot! And yes, I’ve been known to do that too!
Oh I’m sure there are a bunch of good coffee-related moments, I just can’t think of one right now.
My favorite is Agent Dale Cooper and his coffee scenes in Twin Peaks
I’m just about to watch Kicking and Screaming for an article I’m writing on Will Ferrell’s sports movies. Haven’t seen it yet and wasn’t really looking forward to it. Am now though!
Oh boy. I wish you luck. If you could edit the whole movie down to just the coffee scenes you’d be ok. Beyond that……
“Drink the coffee! it’ll be good for you!”
“Why is everyone slapping me lately?”
This is an excellent list. I would add the De Niro/Pacino meeting for coffee in “Heat”. I’m a tea drinker myself but since it approaches addiction I can fully relate to the coffee vice.
That scene is so good and so seminal I think it almost transcends the fact they are drinking coffee. If that makes any sense.
My favorite coffee moment is probably when the police chief of Malibu hurls his coffee cup at the Dude’s head in The Big Lebowski.
“Stay out of Malibu, deadbeat!”
Ha! I love the obscure topic. The Winston Wolf sequence will always be a favorite for me because he makes a Lash LaRue reference. Lash (LaRue) is my dad’s nickname.
Reservoir Dogs opening scene. I guess it’s technically breakfast, but there’s coffee involved with some some of my favourite dialog.
…this gets me thinking about the scene in Jaws when Chief Brody’s son is offered ice cream from his mum and he seems, surprisingly, more interested in coffee (or “Kaw-fee”! Or is that coffee-flavored ice cream.
Coffee flavored ice cream is pretty much the only ice cream I ever eat. (If you couldn’t already tell, I kind of like coffee.)
Fun list. What about the end of Fast Times at Ridgemont High when hot coffee is used as a weapon?
Yup. Good one. Coffee! It’s so versatile!
“No Country For Old Men,” when Tommy Lee Jones asks Barry Corbin “How old is this coffee?” After learning it’s several days old, he pours himself a cup anyway.
THAT’S another sign of addiction. Or potential insanity.
Definitely The Big Heat. That Lee Marvin was something else.
Also going back a few more years – It Happened One Night when Clarke Cable was trying to teach Claudette Colbert the proper way to dunk doughnuts.
Another good one! This list could have been, like, 50 scenes long!
Really? It’s such low-hanging fruit that not one person has mentioned “closers?” Need I say more?
Anyway, fun as hell list, Nick. I love the inclusion of Ronin and Top Gun the best. And, of course, as has been mentioned, Thor is a great one.
Oh! Glengarry Glen Ross! Of course! (Damn, why didn’t I think of that…)
“PUT that coffee down. Coffee is for closers.”
Most of what I thought of has been mentioned above but I still wanted to say great, unique list idea! I could add Paul Rudd’s rant about coffee cup sizes in Role Models though!
Paul Rudd’s coffee rant from Role Models IS great:
Danny(Rudd): Can I get a large black coffee?
Barista: A what?
Danny: Large black coffee.
Barista: Do you mean a venti?
Danny: No, I mean a large.
Barista: Venti is large.
Danny: No, venti is twenty. Large is large. In fact, tall is large and grande is Spanish for large. Venti is the only one that doesn’t mean large. It’s also the only one that’s Italian. Congratulations, you’re stupid in three languages.
Barista: A venti is a large coffee.
Danny: Really? Says who? Fellini? Do you accept lira or is it all euros now?
These are all epic; I enjoy coffee scenes like:
1) In MIB, the wierd aliens hanging out in the coffee room
2) When the Office Space team took a coffee break at Chotchkees
How could I forgotten about the coffee-drinking aliens??? Silly me! Great scene.
In John Wayne’s Stagecoach is also an interesting coffee scene, where the drunk doctor needs to sober up by drinking some “hot, strong and good” coffee in order to help a woman to give birth.
One thing I would like to discuss is that fat burning plan fast is possible by the correct diet and exercise. Someone’s size not only affects appearance, but also the actual quality of life. Self-esteem, despression symptoms, health risks, in addition to physical skills are afflicted in excess weight. It is possible to just make everything right but still gain. Should this happen, a medical problem may be the primary cause. While too much food but not enough work out are usually responsible, common medical conditions and popular prescriptions can greatly amplify size. Many thanks for your post in this article.
Trackbacks