DIRECTOR: Woody Allen STARRING: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, Sheryl Lee, Blake Lively, Paul Schackman, Jeannie Berlin, Ken Stott, Richard Portnow, Sari Lennick, Stephen Kunken, Laurel Griggs, Corey Stoll USA 2016
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Set in the 1930s, Woody Allen’s bittersweet romance Café Society is a film of rare beauty. A journey of Bronx-born young man (Jesse Eisenberg) to the glamorous Hollywood, where he falls in love and returns to New York. A nostalgic affair of a time that also seems like a blast from the past, in a movie that lives through the strong character’s dynamics, from Steve Carrell to Blake Lively, from Bobby’s (Eisenberg) colourful family in the Bronx to the movie stars, gangsters, politicians and socialites. It was fun to see Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart chemistry together, we have already seen that in Adventureland (2009) and more recently in American Ultra (2015). Hollywood always seems like an uncharted territory for Allen, but this time around he’s going straight to a glamourous age, bringing all its trademark elements into a sophisticated yet sometimes moody film. Café Society is not Blue Jasmine, or even close to Allen’s classics, but it looks a lot like a restart or even reflective, seems fresh and shows that his skills as a storyteller are still great and intact.