Review of Café Society (2016) by Glenn G — 03 Aug 2016

DECAF - My Review of CAFE SOCIETY (2 Stars).

There was a time where I would be a First Friday consumer of Woody Allen's films, anxious to be the first on my block to digest the annual quips and foibles from the master director of such classics as ANNIE HALL, MANHATTAN, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, and my personal favorite, THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO. Then a funny thing happened around the time of CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION (2001). I became more discriminating by watching his trailers and choosing to see only the films in which he looked like he was trying a little harder. They were there, but for every BLUE JASMINE, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, or MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, he had an ANYTHING ELSE, WHATEVER WORKS, or SCOOP to ruin the curve.

Whatever you think of him personally, the man has talent, but at the age of 80, he could stand to slow down his output and let things ripen, no? Such is the case with his latest effort, CAFE SOCIETY, a listless trifle which could have benefited from a script polish of what appears to be what we screenwriters call his "vomit first draft".

The story, such as it is, tells the tale of Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg doing a less distracting Woody imitation than some of his predecessors), who in the 1930s moves from his mob-like Bronx environs to Hollywood to get a job from his powerful agent Uncle Phil (Steve Carell). He quickly falls head over heels in love with Phil's secretary Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) not knowing that his Uncle has been secretly having an affair with her as well. Therein lies the problem as Woody hands us a predictable love triangle of a story instead of what could have been a fun, satirical look at the Golden Age of Hollywood in the manner of THE PLAYER.

The first fifteen minutes of the film had me convinced it could reach those levels, with Carell humble bragging his way through a Hollywood party and phone meetings, revealing a film industry that has changed very little since. Just replace his boasting to colleagues that he may sign a major star with a well-placed Tweet, and voila, it's 2016! Soon however, we're treated to the dull machinations of a woman wombats choose between the man she loves and the man with whom she could find material comforts. Yawn.

Making matters worse is Woody's choice to provide his own voiceover, doing the audience no favors as his aged, gravelly, rasp sits in that uncomfortable sweet spot between incomprehensible and lethargic. Scene after scene unravels where everything feels as it should with the proper setups and jokes, yet the punchlines don't truly land, or sometimes they don't exist at all. Did Woody forget to return to the placeholders he left in the script or did he think the audience would just be swept up in the glamour of it all?

Hard to say, but that glamour does exist with great help from Vittorio Storaro's sumptuous cinematography and Santo Loquasto's rich production design. Although wonderful actors like Parker Posey and Paul Schneider are wasted as a socialite couple who slip in and out of our main characters' lives, a few actors get a chance to shine. I haven't seen the Academy Award-nominated Jeannie Berlin in anything memorable since her breakout role in 1972's THE HEARTBREAK KID, but between this, where she nearly steals the film, and the HBO limited series, THE NIGHT OF, it's great to have her back on the screen. It would have been even better had Allen not resorted to throwing in a Yiddish phrase or a Jewish joke as a desperate audience-grabbing ploy and given her even more solid lines. Anna Camp (PITCH PERFECT) does well with her one scene as a newbie prostitute and Corey Stoll finds the goofy charm in his hitman character. Blake Lively looks beautiful and brings a sweet energy to her underwritten role as Bobby's wife. Best of all, however, is Stewart, who time and time again has shown what a great actor she is when she's not stinking up the cineplex in one of those godawful TWILIGHT films. Her Vonnie has such warmth and soul, and she looks stunning in her low-key period costumes and hair. At a crucial point in the film, her character goes through a change, and Stewart nails the pretension of a poser and slips out of it with a great facility. The often dour performer truly comes to life in this film, almost....almost...almost making it worth watching.

Alas, it's not. I think Allen is trying to say something about destiny, that not all loves are meant to be, no matter how strong the feelings. Ok, fine. That would work if every side of the love triangle had been written with and performed with the same conviction as Stewart's. Such is not the case, with Eisenberg and Carell bringing a fun energy but little depth. With Stewart at her best and the guys just getting by, the love triangle feels more like an acute angle instead.

While I admire Woody Allen for his work ethic and impressive output of about one film per year for the past 5 decades, I wish he would realize that by putting out a 3rd or 4th draft instead of his 1st he'd have fewer but better films. Seriously, Woody, slow the f*ck down!