Café Society (2016)

Very disappointing...

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Cafe Society is the first film with Woody Allen associated with it I've seen unless you count Antz and he is fantastic with the offbeat comedy and drama. It follows a young man named Bobby (Jessie Eisenberg) as he moves to Hollywood to get a job from his uncle (Steve Carell) who is a Hollywood producer and falls in love with Veronica "Vonnie" (Kristen Stewart) as he slowly gets more connections and rises to more importance. The film is funny and upbeat with an excellent 30's jazz filed soundtrack, great performances, and hilarious bits thrown in amongst a slightly boring and predictable but well directed and acted period piece comedy about showbiz. 8.5/10

Cafe Society is a term used to describe an elite (shallow) group of wealthy and/or famous people who participate in social activities that are unreachable to ordinary people. This film mainly centers around (1) early Hollywood and (2) the main character's dysfunctional family.The leading actor is not a convincing innocent & all the characters have a debased & distorted view of personal morality.Unfortunately this movie provides clear evidence of anti-Christian bias on the part of the filmmakers.The mockery & derision of Christianity seems to be the prevalent norm among films being released by Hollywood,there are virtually no films with positive Christian portrayals.The protagonists brother Ben commits a murder and is given a sentence of capital punishment for his crimes,he converts to Christianity for its promise of an everlasting life after death. In the scene where the characters are discussing his decision and the concept of heaven, his Jewish mother states: "First a murderer then a Christian? What did I do to deserve this"Blasphemous Posturing & Hostility Masquerading As Humour. The film industry in the USA have normalized what was once considered deviant and are defining as deviant what was once considered normal.Lower standards and moral relativism are promoted by movies like this. Deviant and normal have officially swapped places when it is acceptable humour to put Christians on a par with murderers

I could have spent the 1h 35 minutes length of this movie watching the traffic moving by from my living room window and be more entertained! Boring is the only word I can come up to describe this movie. Really, go take a walk, browse the web, check some kittens on Facebook...it all will be more meaningful in the end than watching this trite, soapy, stereotyped, boooriiiiiing movie! BTW...I used to love Woody Allen movies, but now I think he just keeps making movies because he can, although he has nothing left to show us! Boring! No redeeming qualities, boring! Did I mention how boring this movie is?

There's not really a 'typical' Woody Allen movie because there are so many of them and they're all so much alike that they're all typical, except maybe 'Match Point'.'Café Society' has its similarities to Allen's other movies, and some dissimilarities, too. The similarities: the protagonist is Jewish, the movie explores identities of cities, there's a love triangle and infidelity, it resembles a stage play, it's a comedy but has some sad material, there's no villain, it stars a beautiful young star (Kristen Stewart joins Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson, Evan Rachel Wood, Hayley Atwell and Christina Ricci as a Woody Allen movie love interest) and it has many unpredictable twists and is rather fast-paced.The dissimilarities are harder to describe. 'Café Society' feels somber, and it leaves much unresolved. It's not a neat little package like many Woody Allen movies are. Typically Woody characters talk way too much. 'Café Society' has things left unsaid. It's a very blue movie (fittingly in color scheme as well).It's about ambitions and priorities, and the winding roads of fate that take us to unexpected places. As usual, Woody Allen takes a setting and situation that seems distant and makes it easy to relate to.Bonus points for the scene with Anna Camp as a prostitute, that whole sequence was absolutely hilarious.