Café Society is an incredibly shot period piece from Woody Allen, or Monsieur Woody, as the French lovingly refer to him. It's a period piece that is set in the 1930s, in the Bronx and Hollywood. It follows the story of Bobby Dorfman after he comes out to La La Land to try to work for his uncle, hot-shot agent to the stars, Phil Stern. Jesse Eisenberg acts the role of Bobby and Steve Carell plays Phil. Jeannie Berlin and Ken Stott (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) play minor roles as Bobby's parents, Rose and Marty. Corey Stoll (House of Cards) and Sari Lennick round out the members of the Dorfman family, playing Bobby's brother and sister, Ben & Evelyn. Cafe Society is certainly a period drama depicting the glamorous life of a Hollywood agent in the 30s, but it's also a family drama as well which portrays the life of Jewish family doing their damnedest to make it in the Bronx. Much can be said about the ensemble of talented actors that Woody assembled for this film, particularly that all of them were able to do very well with minimal material/screen time. Anna Camp, who plays a prostitute named Candy, comes to mind when she highlights a funny scene with Eisenberg. Parker Posey is convincing and amusing, in her role as Rad Taylor. Blake Lively supplies her Hollywood looks fittingly, as Veronica, who provides quite the catch-of-a-rebound for protagonist, Bobby. But, it's (surprisingly?) Kristen Stewart, as Vonnie, who has probably the most important role in the movie, as the juggled back and forth love interest of Bobby and his uncle, Phil. She delivers a rather stellar performance, portraying the vulnerabilities of a young secretary who's pursued by her much older boss, as well as sort of a delicate feline-like toying with naivete of new-to-Hollywood Bobby. She's really quite keen.
Some criticism has been laid on Woody for not trying to venture out of his comfort zone on this latest effort, and there is some merit to that, but if you go into Cafe Society hoping to be entertained for 90 minutes by a film that is a flashback to a different time in New York City and Hollywood, with a healthy serving of humor and wonderful sets, then I don't think you'll be disappointed. Just don't expect to see the most realistic plot resolutions.
