Cafe Society - directed by Woody Allen
I love Woody Allen movies which is not the same thing as saying that they are all great - or even good.
The thing is that at the very least there is the promise of great things each and every time he releases a movie.
Hell, the promise of even just very good things is enough for me.
He has had a few phases over the course of his career that produced movies of varying degrees of success.
The seventies saw the classic Allen films like "Sleeper", "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex", "Manhattan" and "Annie Hall".
The eighties saw more academy awards with movies like "Stardust Memories", "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and "The Purple Rose of Cairo".
The nineties are perhaps his weakest but still offered up treats like "Manhattan Murder Mystery", "Bullets Over Broadway" and "The Mighty Aphrodite".
And yes- more Oscars.
More recent work has been uneven so as much as I love "Midnight In Paris" and "Match Point" there is no denying that for me "To Rome With Love" and "Blue Jasmine" are merely good rather than great.
With his latest movie he is in territory somewhere in the middle of all of that.
in "Cafe Society" I picked up elements of "Radio Days" bits of "Midnight in Paris" and a gust here and there of "Deconstructing Harry"
The story here is based in late thirties Hollywood - the Golden Era.
A young man (Eisenberg) heads to Los Angeles from New York to take a job with his super agent Uncle (Carell)
He falls in love with one of the secretarial staff (Stewart) as he rises up the ranks.
It is then revealed that the young lady already has a boyfriend.
Mixed into this story is the rest of the family.
One brother is a violent gangster (Corey Stoll), the sister is married to a communist intellectual and the parents are the proverbial Woody Allen Jewish couple - bickering all the while serving up illogical justifications for their views.
It's a comedy for sure but it is also a love letter to classic Hollywood and a relatively traditional romance tale.
It's a strange hybrid beast of a movie but it works.
The violence while not "Goodfellas" is not "Bugsy Malone" either and does provide most of the reason for the M rating.
And it is pretty much all in the service of comedy.
Black as all hell comedy but comedy it is.
I found myself loving this film for the first third as a radiant Kristen Stewart takes Eisenberg's Bobbie to her favourite cinemas and restaurants.
There is a sweetness to the scenes with the pair and also a clear love of the kind of place that Hollywood was back then - or at least of the way we often choose to remember it.
Stewart is more appealing than I have ever seen her and I would argue that this counts as one of her very best performances.
It is nuanced and sympathetic which given some of what happens is very important.
Eisenberg can often be super annoying in my view but is actually just about perfect for this role.
He has worked with Stewart several times before so it is no surprise to find the chemistry present here.
As the film moves to its mid section it becomes less light and fluffy but at least we get more Corey Stoll.
I am a huge Stoll fan and ever since "Midnight in Paris" in my head I hear him say 'Who wants to fight!?' when he appears on screen.
He is intimidating yet funny as the violent brother Ben.
Steve Carell is also very good as the Uncle and agent Phil Stern.
There is more going on with this character than first appears but I will not spoil what this is.
Carell makes Phil at once likeable and detestable
Allen movies are frequently stunningly well shot and this one is no exception.
I loved a shot that frames Eisenberg and Stewart on the beach in preparation for where they are moving to.
They drop perfectly into the shot and it is effective even though it amounts to about twenty seconds in a one shot scene.
Also a dinner at Eisenberg's hotel room where the lights go out and the pair are lit purely by candlelight is beautifully done.
And then there is Stewart herself and latterly the stunning Blake Lively.
Having this duo in a film does no harm to the overall visual appeal.
The music too is excellent with a range of instrumental themes and a bunch of lounge standards in several scenes taking place at a club owned by Ben.
From a technical standpoint I rate this as one of Allen's best - something I feel he has not been readily recognised for since the eighties.
With a host of Hollywood references and a decent number of laughs this is a very good Woody Allen film that while not up there with his best is still very entertaining and original.
I liked all of the performances particularly Stewart who has well and truly shaken off the Twilight baggage that saw many unfairly assuming her talentless.
If there is a weakness here it is not in the shooting, editing, sound, score or acting.
It is in a third act that can be ponderous and appears to have been worked into a corner by some strange occurrences in the plot leading up to it.
It's a shame because the Woody Allen narration has served to speed things very effectively along for most of the running time but there is a sense of a lack of direction and stalling for a conclusion.
It just about recovers but the ending which is less than satisfying and feels a little bit like the product of not knowing where to go does it no favours.
I was left with a "Really? Is that the end?" feeling as the screen faded to black and the credits rolled.
It's a shame that all of the great work done up to the final half hour wasn't paid off in nearly as an effective manner as is befitting it.
It seems then that this film is a macrocosm of sorts of Allen's output to date - sometimes great, sometimes very good, sometimes head scratchingly disappointing.
And yet for a Woody Allen fan it is still pretty much good enough.
RATING: 80 / 100
CONCLUSION: A strange hybrid of a movie that seems to mix genres often to great effect. The performances are great and Allen serves up several stunningly beautiful shots. Let down only by a weak final third there is still much to enjoy here.
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, Blake Lively, Sheryl Lee, Ken Stott, Richard Portnow, Corey Stoll, Anna Camp, Don Stark, Parker Posey, Paul Scheider, Max Adler, Woody Allen (Narrator)
Screenplay: Woody Allen
Music Score by: N/A
Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro
Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro
Edited by: Alisa Lepselter
Running Time: 97 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Violence, Drug Use and Language
Running Time: 97 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Violence, Drug Use and Language
The thing is that at the very least there is the promise of great things each and every time he releases a movie.
Hell, the promise of even just very good things is enough for me.
He has had a few phases over the course of his career that produced movies of varying degrees of success.
The seventies saw the classic Allen films like "Sleeper", "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex", "Manhattan" and "Annie Hall".
The eighties saw more academy awards with movies like "Stardust Memories", "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and "The Purple Rose of Cairo".
The nineties are perhaps his weakest but still offered up treats like "Manhattan Murder Mystery", "Bullets Over Broadway" and "The Mighty Aphrodite".
And yes- more Oscars.
More recent work has been uneven so as much as I love "Midnight In Paris" and "Match Point" there is no denying that for me "To Rome With Love" and "Blue Jasmine" are merely good rather than great.
With his latest movie he is in territory somewhere in the middle of all of that.
in "Cafe Society" I picked up elements of "Radio Days" bits of "Midnight in Paris" and a gust here and there of "Deconstructing Harry"
 |
| Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart - great chemistry |
A young man (Eisenberg) heads to Los Angeles from New York to take a job with his super agent Uncle (Carell)
He falls in love with one of the secretarial staff (Stewart) as he rises up the ranks.
It is then revealed that the young lady already has a boyfriend.
Mixed into this story is the rest of the family.
One brother is a violent gangster (Corey Stoll), the sister is married to a communist intellectual and the parents are the proverbial Woody Allen Jewish couple - bickering all the while serving up illogical justifications for their views.
It's a comedy for sure but it is also a love letter to classic Hollywood and a relatively traditional romance tale.
It's a strange hybrid beast of a movie but it works.
The violence while not "Goodfellas" is not "Bugsy Malone" either and does provide most of the reason for the M rating.
And it is pretty much all in the service of comedy.
Black as all hell comedy but comedy it is.
 |
| Steve Carell as Phil Stern - super agent |
There is a sweetness to the scenes with the pair and also a clear love of the kind of place that Hollywood was back then - or at least of the way we often choose to remember it.
Stewart is more appealing than I have ever seen her and I would argue that this counts as one of her very best performances.
It is nuanced and sympathetic which given some of what happens is very important.
Eisenberg can often be super annoying in my view but is actually just about perfect for this role.
He has worked with Stewart several times before so it is no surprise to find the chemistry present here.
As the film moves to its mid section it becomes less light and fluffy but at least we get more Corey Stoll.
I am a huge Stoll fan and ever since "Midnight in Paris" in my head I hear him say 'Who wants to fight!?' when he appears on screen.
He is intimidating yet funny as the violent brother Ben.
Steve Carell is also very good as the Uncle and agent Phil Stern.
There is more going on with this character than first appears but I will not spoil what this is.
Carell makes Phil at once likeable and detestable
Allen movies are frequently stunningly well shot and this one is no exception.
I loved a shot that frames Eisenberg and Stewart on the beach in preparation for where they are moving to.
They drop perfectly into the shot and it is effective even though it amounts to about twenty seconds in a one shot scene.
Also a dinner at Eisenberg's hotel room where the lights go out and the pair are lit purely by candlelight is beautifully done.
And then there is Stewart herself and latterly the stunning Blake Lively.
Having this duo in a film does no harm to the overall visual appeal.
The music too is excellent with a range of instrumental themes and a bunch of lounge standards in several scenes taking place at a club owned by Ben.
From a technical standpoint I rate this as one of Allen's best - something I feel he has not been readily recognised for since the eighties.
 |
| Talented support in the stunning Blake Lively and Corey Stoll |
I liked all of the performances particularly Stewart who has well and truly shaken off the Twilight baggage that saw many unfairly assuming her talentless.
If there is a weakness here it is not in the shooting, editing, sound, score or acting.
It is in a third act that can be ponderous and appears to have been worked into a corner by some strange occurrences in the plot leading up to it.
It's a shame because the Woody Allen narration has served to speed things very effectively along for most of the running time but there is a sense of a lack of direction and stalling for a conclusion.
It just about recovers but the ending which is less than satisfying and feels a little bit like the product of not knowing where to go does it no favours.
I was left with a "Really? Is that the end?" feeling as the screen faded to black and the credits rolled.
It's a shame that all of the great work done up to the final half hour wasn't paid off in nearly as an effective manner as is befitting it.
It seems then that this film is a macrocosm of sorts of Allen's output to date - sometimes great, sometimes very good, sometimes head scratchingly disappointing.
And yet for a Woody Allen fan it is still pretty much good enough.
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