CAFE SOCIETY – Rated PG-13

CAFÉ SOCIETY – RATED PG-13 – 98 Min

Starring Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg, Steve Carell, Blake Lively and Corey Stoll

Written, Directed and Narrated by 4-time Academy Award Winner Woody Allen – we venture back to the Hollywood of the 1930’s – where we meet Bronx native Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) as he ventures west to find a job with his uncle, studio exec Phil Stern (Steve Carell).

When Bobby meets Uncle Phil’s secretary, the mesmerizingly charismatic Vonnie (Kristen Stewart), it’s love at first site, well, for Bobby anyway.

When Bobby’s plans for a beautiful life with Vonnie are squashed, as she wants to venture down the path of marital bliss with a past love interest, Bobby scurries back home to New York, and enters into the seedy world of night club life at the Café’ owned by his older brother and gangster Ben Dorfman (Corey Stoll).

Caught in the ambiance of his new life, with his new love Veronica (Blake Lively), Bobby must forge past the feelings that he still harbors for Vonnie, if he is to make things work with the mother of his children, and forget about the woman who broke his heart, before its too late…

I give CAFÉ SOCIETY a rating of MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN at a Matinee or Weekend cheap show: Know going in to this review that there is nothing I love more than OLD HOLLYWOOD – and Allen takes us back to an OLD HOLLYWOOD in the midst of all it’s glory, wrapped within the tapestry of an unrequited love story for the ages, so viewing this one was a dream for me! From the perfectly executed attire, to the cinematography that truly let old Hollywood’s glamour come shining through, I was hooked from the first frame, and all the way through. Eisenberg’s performance was deeper and more emotional than I have seen from him before, and Stewart managed to play with slight more emotion than we have seen from her in the past too. Plus, hearing Allen narrate throughout, gave CAFÉ SOCIETY the perfect little twist, to make this film even more appealing. The only thing that crept into the shadows of my mind, that didn’t allow me to give this film a FULL BLOWN MUST SEE – was the fact that I need Allen to get past the older guy/younger girl obsession he has, as we all know he lives that situation by choice every day of his life, and is probably trying to make us believe that it happens all the time, by writing it into the storylines of most of his latest films ~ but I’m not buying it ~ and I don’t think anyone else is either, so can we just move on already – or go see the shrink if you need to Woody, and let’s come up with a different storyline for your next film…Please!

Kathy Kaiser