Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) and Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) in CAFÉ SOCIETY. © 2016 Gravier Productions, Inc., Photography Sabrina Lantos.
Woody Allen fades in on Depression-era Hollywood at the beginning of "Café Society," his disarming, better-than-expected bicoastal romance, and something seems off. The costumes look right, as do the locations. Even his voiceover narration, which proves to be superfluous at best and intrusive at worst, seems oddly appropriate as he introduces Tinseltown's power players at a nighttime cocktail party.
But what initially prevented this reviewer from fully immersing himself in this otherwise impeccably recreated time period can be summed up in one word: pixels. "Café Society," released in the U.S. by Lionsgate and Amazon Studios, is in many ways a return to form for the Oscar winner. But it was shot with digital cameras by Vittorio Storaro ("Apocalypse Now," "The Last Emperor"), and the legendary cinematographer hasn't exactly made a herculean effort to make his garish lighting here particularly cinematic. It might pass muster on your flat-screen or laptop screen at home, but in a theatrical setting, it all looks plastic and artificial. (Say what you will about Joel and Ethan Coen's imperfect "Hail, Caesar!" At least their depiction of Hollywood felt tactile and lived in.)
Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) and Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) in CAFÉ SOCIETY. © 2016 Gravier Productions, Inc., Photography Sabrina Lantos.
It's a stumbling block for Allen in this, his 47th theatrical outing behind the camera, but I'm happy to report it's not a deal breaker. Far from it.
You see, "Café Society" marks the third onscreen pairing of Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart. Their chemistry lit up the charming '80s comedy "Adventureland" and the underrated stoner spy yarn, "American Ultra." Lightning has struck again; they go a long way toward selling Allen's lighthearted bauble. A better job, one may argue, than Allen the screenwriter and even Allen the director.
Eisenberg plays Bobby Dorfman, a Bronx Jew who decides he doesn't want to toil away in his father's jewelry business and heads off to Los Angeles to make a name for himself. It doesn't go well for him in La-La Land, at least not at first. Phil Stern (Steve Carell), his hotshot studio exec uncle, keeps giving him the runaround, and a fumbled attempt at seeking the services of a prostitute (a game Anna Camp) goes disastrously for both parties.
Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) and Veronica (Blake Lively) in CAFÉ SOCIETY. © 2016 Gravier Productions, Inc., Photography Sabrina Lantos.
Uncle Phil eventually relents and gives the hungry go-getter a break. (Stern's office, by the way, is a coup for production designer Santo Loquasto.) That's when Bobby lays eyes on Vonnie (Kristen Stewart), a simple, down-to-earth Nebraska girl who works for Stern. She takes a liking to our protagonist, but warns him she's seeing someone. Still, there's no harm in hanging out and going sightseeing together, is there?
As the out-of-towners' friendship blossoms, a warm and fuzzy feeling starts to well up, and not just between the characters. Could it be that Allen feels empathy for these idealists? It's something that's been in scant supply in the director's recent work. One would have to go back to "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and, to a lesser extent, the somewhat overpraised "Midnight in Paris," to see examples of Woody giving a damn about the people whose stories he's telling. About people in general, really. (Alas, "Café Society" also displays Woody's tendency to name-drop famous people to make viewers feel knowledgeable, something that marred Paris, but this time he reins it in.)
Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) and Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) in CAFÉ SOCIETY. © 2016 Gravier Productions, Inc., Photography Sabrina Lantos.
Even though the first half of "Café Society" mostly takes place on the West Coast, the film turns out to be yet another New York story at heart. (All these years after "Annie Hall," Allen's still a fish out of water in the greater Los Angeles area.) Back home, we're introduced to Bobby's dysfunctional clan: bickering parents (Ken Stott and Jeannie Berlin), pen-pal older sis and her intellectual, left-leaning hubby (Sari Lennick and Stephen Kunken), and wise guy older brother (Corey Stoll, shrewdly underplaying what could have easily been a cartoon).
LEFT: Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) and Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) in CAFÉ SOCIETY. © 2016 Gravier Productions, Inc., Photography Sabrina Lantos, RIGHT: and Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) in CAFÉ SOCIETY. © 2016 Gravier Productions, Inc., Photography Sabrina Lantos.
As the various plot strands play out, the film starts feeling more and more like "Radio Days" (1987), Allen's often overlooked comic look at growing up Jewish in Queens in the late 30s/early 40s. There are also traces of his 1985 magic realism-speckled gem "The Purple Rose of Cairo," which takes places in the mid-1930s.
In other words, Woody continues to borrow heavily from his earlier work, but this time he's picked the right movies to pilfer. Yes, that irksome, by now curdled fascination with crime and punishment rears its unwelcome head here, but here it's handled with bemused detachment. One character's 11th-hour conversion to Christianity, for instance, elicits big laughs, and when was the last time an Allen movie had managed that, "From Rome with Love's" shower opera singer notwithstanding?
Corey Stoll stars as ‘Ben' in CAFÉ SOCIETY. © 2016 Gravier Productions, Inc., Photography Sabrina Lantos.
The prevailing mood in "Café Society," however, is wistfulness, of fulfillment slipping right through your fingers. It illustrates how true and lasting happiness can slip beyond our grasp the harder we try to reach for it. The film is at its best when it hits that bittersweet note, particularly during a well-executed final scene, and at its worst when it threatens to put its winsome characters under the bus.
One also wishes Allen had found a way to more seamlessly integrate Bobby's family into his arc, and that he'd avoided using Carell's character in ways that court contrivance and stretch our suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. (Carell replaced Bruce Willis, who was reportedly fired after, sources said, he had trouble remembering his lines.) It doesn't help matters that the filmmaker handles a significant story development that takes Bobby from one coast to another in abrupt and unsatisfying fashion. The film also makes some jarring jumps forward in time during its second half that make a fairly episodic structure feel even more choppy.
But even when the film hits the occasional rough spot, Stewart and Eisenberg, a Millennial Hanks and Ryan, soldier on, striking gentle sparks that hark back to a simpler moviegoing age when the chance to simply sit back and see Tinseltown's brightest sparkle was reason enough to purchase a ticket. They're that engaging.
Steve Carell stars as ‘Phil' in CAFÉ SOCIETY. © 2016 Gravier Productions, Inc., Photography Sabrina Lantos.
Woody's latest, slight but also wise and buoyant, ends at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. Here's hoping it marks the beginning of a fruitful creative streak for the prolific auteur, and that future projects avoid looking so much like TV movies with A-list talent.
Café Society opens July 29 in area theaters, including the Coral Gables Art Cinema and O Cinema Miami Beach. It's worth a look, even if you're not an Allen fan.
