Cafe Society

Woody Allen's latest film, Cafe Society, is very pleasant and easy enough to watch, but it never goes any further than that.  It's filled with people who we like enough, but we also fear that if we spent any more time with them, we would start to get bored.  The movie is beautifully shot, and held my interest at first.  But, as it went along, I started to gradually fear that there wasn't going to be much to the story.  By the end, my fears had been verified.

That's not to say that there are no charms to be found.  It's gorgeous to look at, with some stunning sets recreating a nostalgic view of 1930s Hollywood.  And yes, the characters are likable.  There's just not a whole lot Allen seems to be trying to say here.  He seems to be trying to make a very light love triangle story set in old Hollywood, where the characters constantly namedrop Ginger Rogers or Errol Flynn.  The thing is, as an homage to a bygone age, the namedropping is about as deep as it goes.  Outside of the gorgeously realized sets and locations, the story could probably have been set in any time or place without any changes.  And when the story switches gears and becomes about the New York nightclub scene (which is where the title comes from), it almost feels like the movie is starting over halfway through.  The simplistic and unnecessary narration (provided by Allen himself) doesn't help matters, as it doesn't add anything that we couldn't figure out without it.  Allen's tone when he is narrating is flat and with hardly any energy, and it doesn't take long until the movie itself feels the same.

Jesse Eisenberg has the lead role of Bobby, the character who is supposed to represent Allen's main voice in the film.  He's likable enough here, but kind of low wattage and with few sparks to his performance.  His character comes to Hollywood from New York in the hopes of finding a job at a film studio where his uncle Phil (Steve Carell) works as a hotshot talent agent.  While Phil looks for various odd jobs that Bobby can do around the office, he introduces him to his lovely young assistant, Vonnie (Kristen Stewart), who immediately catches Bobby's attention.  They spend the days touring around Hollywood and growing quite close, although Vonnie claims that she has a boyfriend.  It's eventually revealed that she is dating the married Phil in secret.  Disillusioned by Hollywood in general and heartbroken, Bobby decides to head back to New York, and gets involved in the nightclub business thanks to his gangster brother (Corey Stoll).  And even though Bobby does find success and even love with another woman (Blake Lively), his former feelings for Vonnie still haunt him.

I can imagine certain people enjoying Cafe Society.  I enjoyed it also up to a point.  I was wrapped up in the pleasant atmosphere of the film, until the plot started to make me feel restless around the 45 minute mark.  It's not a bad movie in the slightest.  I just never quite got a grasp on the characters, and I don't think Allen did either when he was writing this.  They seem underdeveloped and underwritten.  It doesn't help that the movie frequently chooses to skip over certain parts of the story that seem crucial, and just have Allen narrate them.  Bobby's feelings for Hollywood seem to change over the course of a single edit.  Instead of showing him gradually change and grow into the scene of running a New York nightclub, it's simply told to us.  This is the sort of movie that generates mild interest, but never really engages.  It never offends, but it also never grabs us.  It starts to feel like Allen's heart wasn't completely behind this one.

I can't blame any filmmaker for wanting to make a light, breezy movie, but this one just seems a bit too inconsequential for its own good.  Am I sorry I saw it?  Not at all.  But it's hard to muster much enthusiasm for it.

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