Café Society (2016)

Genre

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Director

Woody Allen

Country

USA

Cast

Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, Blake Lively, Parker Posey, Corey Stoll, Jeannie Berlin, Ken Scott, Anna Camp, Paul Schneider, Sheryl Lee, Tony Sirico, Stephen Kunken, Sari Lennick, Max Adler, Don Stark, Gregg Binkley, Woody Allen

Storyline

In the 1930s, a young Bronx native (Jesse Eisenberg) moves to Hollywood, where he falls in love with the secretary (Kristen Stewart) of his powerful uncle (Steve Carell), an agent to the stars. After returning to New York, he is swept up in the vibrant world of high society nightclub life.

Opinion

Just like almost every single year, Woody Allen once again assembled a very fine cast and made this film I was super excited to watch for months basically because he directed it and also because it was Cannes Film Festival's opening film this year. I'm happy to say that all the wait has paid off.

Arguably one of the most Allen pictures of recent years, "Café Society" is a very fun, bittersweet romantic comedy-drama.

If you like Allen then you're probably going to enjoy this film as well, because the plot to this film is basically a mix of various parts of old and successful films of his, It is the typical love triangle story, set in the 30s. But there's more to that. It eventually takes some unexpected (criminal) twists, and also it wonderfully portrays how people betray their own ideals only because they get older and afraid not to achieve anything in life.

Other than the engaging and intelligent plot, the film also features great, well developed characters that are worth of our attention. Despite being played by Jesse Eisenberg aka Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network", the protagonist, Bobby, a naive young man that tries to make his way into Hollywood, is very likable. And the supporting characters are very interesting as well, especially Bobby's brother Ben, the one that makes the film something more than just a romance.

Also, Allen's choice to be a non-screen narrator really adds to the film a gentle feeling of nostalgia, and if you are familiar with his voice, the film will feel incredibly warm and familiar. And finally the scripts features both Allen's light hearted humor and his witty, quirky dialogue.

At last but not least, the very fine cast that actually does a very fine job. First off Jesse Eisenberg who fits very well into his role, and for once he manages to not be annoying as hell. Kristen Stewart really does a good job as the lover, and her chemistry with Eisenberg is amazing. Probably because they've already played love interests twice before in "Adventureland" and "American Ultra". Steve Carell also does a good job, but the biggest surprise to me was Corey Stoll, who provides the film with a comedy I didn't even know he had in him.