Dream for an Insomniac

Jennifer Aniston of Friends fame must really have a thing for acting in java joints. Dream for an Insomniac, a twenty-something romantic comedy, takes place in a San Francisco coffee house called Cafe Blue Eyes, named affectionately after Frank. While Ione Skye (Gas Food Lodging) and Mackenzie Astin (The Evening Star) brew romance at caffeine-level highs, Aniston shines as a comically quirky, wanna-be actress, who loves to mimic accents and is Skye's best friend. Skye plays the wild, quote-reciting Frankie, a hopeless insomniac who works at the cafe and dreams of landing it big as an actress. But her problem has less to do with lack of sleep, than finding Mr. Right. "Anything less than extraordinary is a waste of time," Frankie sighs, after ditching a set-up date. Then, David (Astin), a young writer looking for inspiration, comes to work at the cafe, and sparks begin to fly. (I mean really fly--in color. The film is black and white until David appears.) Of course, there's one tiny problem: David already has a girlfriend. A lighthearted, if somewhat familiarly cheesy, boy-meets-girl tale. Optional. (M. K. Lau)