Café Society (2016)

Woody Allen is always magnificent at two things: writing dialog and directing small, intimate scenes. And both of those talents are on display here. However where he can stumble is building individual scenes into an overall narrative or plot, and that is the big problem with "Café Society". It is a series of interesting scenes that resolutely refuse to gel into a real story. The theme of "things just happen" is often important to Allen's movies. "Crimes and Misdemeanors" turns it into a real virtue as a storytelling device. However here (and in some other of Allen's later-period movies) things just stumble along as though hoping to find meaning or resolution, and when they don't, the film sort of gives up with a shrug.The cinematography, set design, costumes, art direction and other visual aspects are all top-notch. The period details are nicely handled and immerse you into the time frame. There were only a couple of glaring anachronisms in the script, which most people won't catch. And the acting, top to bottom, was no less than "good", and often great, with even Eisenberg's Woody Allen impersonation working pretty well. Blake Lively and Kristen Stewart were both remarkably charming in their roles, while Steve Carell, given little to do, did little.Overall, worth a viewing as a piece of fluff, but don't expect that it will be up there with any of Allen's major works, or even mid-level. An evening of light entertainment that will soon be forgotten.

Woody Allen is a gem like none other in the history of cinema, his humor is not loved by all yet he is widely known and famous and even respected by many. His brand of humor can feel like a cheap slapstick that leaves you smirking to some awkward jokes and in turn seem like a failure but any veteran of his works knows that is just the outer shell of his movies and hide the real meat of the movie, its bitter humor and contempt towards the world and fantasies of perfect society or life. When I say bitter humor and contempt towards the world or use the word nihilist it doesn't mean that Woody Allen actually despises life all together, in fact in my opinion he very much enjoys his life and even in his movies you see that even his characters do enjoy their life in their own way, it just isn't your typical happy go lucky way of looking at the world.In his works time and time again his criticism towards the humanity's vanities are observed via his awkward jokes that are not really meant to make you burst out laughing but to make you think, really think and this movie is no different. In an ever more cautious and morally and politically correct world Allen's stories might seem "offensive", "distasteful", "like flat champagne" and "weak" but in truth he has not wavered from his age old mission: Entertaining the masses and making them think with a smile on their lips.This movie follows Bob as he moves to warm and sunny Hollywood from drab and grey New York to start a new adventure in his life and get into working in the movie industry one way or another. His goal is to get some help from his uncle who is a big man in Hollywood to get started, however he falls in love with the uncle's secretary and wouldn't you know it the secretary is the uncle's girlfriend. The story continues on and Bob after failing in his love life and career in Hollywood moves back to New York and gets successful and starts a family and life basically moves on for a while before he meets his old love again and basically ends with one of the biggest punches in the face a movie goer can receive from a comedy movie and that is the movie ending on a note that leaves you certain that no one got a "happy ending". As in Bob is married to a beautiful woman and has children and success but can not stop thinking about the love that never went anywhere and you know this will eat at him forever and the same for Veronica who is married to an older successful man but will never be able to get over Bob and will never be truly happy. This is yet again the nihilistic side of Woody Allen coming out to play. We have seen this side in many of his films even in his most playful and mainstream works like "Midnight in Paris" we see him tearing down the feel good moments of its characters only to push them under the spot light of reality; and whether we like it or not the reality is that being obsessed with nostalgia in case of main character of "Midnight in Paris" does not make for a good life but at least in that movie the character gets a happy ending after going through a serious but mild wake up call. Here we get to really taste that sour and bitter taste of real life that even "Irrational man" with its ending didn't create. What I really enjoy with Woody Allen movies is the atmosphere and this movie had plenty of it and it was very dynamic. At the start of the movie New York is depicting as drab and grey, the colors are cold and washed out, the warmest you get is when you are watching scenes of the family home. Hollywood is warm and bright and colorful in a contrast to New York with its washed out colors and whenever Bob is with Veronica the colors are vivid and beautiful but when you hit the second half and Bob returns to New York you start to see New York becoming more colorful and colors pop out and are warmer even when depicting stuff like a body being shot with a gun. As per the usual of Allen's movies great jazz fills the movie with even more atmosphere and character. Jesse Eisenberg while not Woody Allen is very good at playing the part of that kind of character albeit with less charm. I don't know what happened to the charming Jesse Eisenberg of Zombieland but he holds it back most of the time. Kristen Stewart as Veronica is not unlikable but it is Kristen Stewart and Twilight shadow will forever loom above her head and it doesn't help that yet again in this movie she has to choose between two lovers. Steve Carell is believable as that prick of an uncle that we come to know through the movie and some might have a hard time with accept him in serious roles but that is not my case, I enjoy his serious roles even more than his comedic ones.I saw a criticism of the movie's depiction of Jews as down right offensive and was amused by the idea that even a Jew director and a Jew actor can not tell a story without being called offensive and insensitive to Jews.All in all the movie is fun and leaves you thinking about the consequences of your actions or lack of actions and while it could have a bit better pacing and some what better acting from Eisenberg and Stewart it is still another Allen movie that in my humble opinion is better than any thing else released in 2016 by the American film industry.

I could have spent the 1h 35 minutes length of this movie watching the traffic moving by from my living room window and be more entertained! Boring is the only word I can come up to describe this movie. Really, go take a walk, browse the web, check some kittens on Facebook...it all will be more meaningful in the end than watching this trite, soapy, stereotyped, boooriiiiiing movie! BTW...I used to love Woody Allen movies, but now I think he just keeps making movies because he can, although he has nothing left to show us! Boring! No redeeming qualities, boring! Did I mention how boring this movie is?

It is not one of the best Woody Allen movies and the ending is a bit unsatisfying, lacking closure, but overall it is a very well done and well acted movie. The sets are great, the atmosphere, the actors are mixing their own thing into the film. Too bad that it doesn't do anything more than present a bit of L.A. life in the 1930s.I think the problem with it is that it tried to go too fast, sometimes replacing movie time with narration, which is normal for Allen, but rarely good. The core of the story is the love that people feel for each other and what it makes them do, yet it gets lost in all the noise.Bottom line: I don't think Woody Allen knew what this movie was supposed to say. It ended up being a love story caught in a slice of glamorous life in a world of movies and gangsters, but the two concepts fought each other rather than harmoniously coexist.