Film: Café Society

Woody Allen and I will never be the best of friends. But in contrast to the simply bad films To Rome with Love, Blue Jasmine, and Magic in the Moonlight, the light-footed, romantic, and glamorous Café Society does not make you want to rush out of the cinema and to a bar as fast as possible. In 1930s America, a naïve Jewish boy (Jesse Eisenberg) dreams of a great career and a stunning wife. In his uncle’s Hollywood, he finds (albeit briefly) the woman of his life (Kristen Stewart) but the wrong career. In his New York, he makes a name for himself as a nightclub manager, but marries the wrong woman. Allen highlights both the glamour and the degeneracy of both metropolises. We’ve heard better one-liners from him before, but his nostalgic retro film does have some swing, the actors are impeccable, the jazz is a true pleasure to hear, and the camera genius Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) makes the costumes, sets, and cast look amazing.



CAFÉ SOCIETY
US, 2016, dir.: Woody Allen, act.: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, 96 min.