Cape of Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope is the South African equivalent of Love Actually. It's three separate (yet connected) love stories set in post-Apartheid South Africa, where a person's skin color still determines their social status. A white woman's fears of abandonment keep her in an adulterous affair with a married man, while the man who truly loves her remains invisible. A black woman struggles to support her son and aging mother by working full-time as a housekeeper and working her way through college. The man she falls in love with has a PhD in Astronomy from a university in Congo, but he can't even get a job as a janitor in a planetarium because he is black. A Muslim couple tries to get pregnant, but the husband refuses to believe they can't have children.

Cape of Good Hope says as much about racism as it does about love, but it never comes across as preachy, cheesy, or artificial. These are sweet and intelligent characters who you might just find yourself falling in love with as well. (I'd take a South African man with an Afrikaans accent any day!!!) For all our movie reviews, visit www.austinmovieshow.com.