Movie Brief: Cafe Society

Woody Allen dramedy might leave you hanging and unsatisfied

Steve Carrell, Blake Lively, Kristen Stewart, and Jess Eisenberg—it’s an all-star cast for the film Café Society. I was intrigued to see this film featuring such an eclectic ensemble cast since Woody Allen wrote and directed the dramedy.

Plot: The 30’s era movie centers on Bobby (Jess Eisenberg), a young man who leaves his home in Bronx, New York to live in Hollywood. He lands a job with his uncle Phil Stern (Steve Carell) who is a big time agent to the stars and then falls in love with his uncle’s secretary, Vonnie (Kristen Stewart). Bobby soon discovers that she is having an affair with his married uncle and that Vonnie loves him. Crushed, he returns to Bronx and goes into the nightclub business with his gangster brother. Bobby eventually falls in love with another woman named Veronica (Blake Lively). They get married and have a baby, but Bobby still pines for Vonnie, who married his uncle.

Engagement: My immediate reaction after screening the film was, “This is a short story that took nearly two hours to tell.” In typical Woody Allen style, this film was eccentric, just as I predicted. While watching, it felt as if I started watching a movie midway and stopped watching before the storyline had time to play out. To top it off, I was a bit surprised about the roles of Stewart and Lively. Stewart portrays the girl that got away, while Lively is the wife he ‘settles’ for. Really? In what alternate universe did this casting director come from? And I still can’t decide if the film was a tale of unrequited love, or a story about making it big and living the high life.

Style: The one redeeming factor in this film is the costuming. But how could you go wrong with glamorous 1930’s style? For the ladies, styled looks featured silky silhouettes paired with wavy coifs locks. Trés chic!

Release date: Friday, July 15th and July 22nd

Image source: Lionsgate