Cafe Society [DVD + Digital]

I've been a fan of WA movies since....forever. Bananas, maybe? Therefore, I consider myself certainly qualified and capable of writing down my opinion of this film. Look, I know he's made better movies...better written, better directed and better acted. But, for some damn reason, a reason which completely eludes me, Café Society could be my favorite Woody Allen movie. I loved it! It has a great look, for starters...it's just a beautiful movie to look at. I don't know if he did something different this time out, I just know it pops off the screen at you. It shines, it's glows, it's crisp and it's warm, the images sharper and more vibrant. Maybe he used a different kind of film, or a different make/model of camera, or did something different with the lighting. Maybe something in post production with the editing process, or whatever. All I know is this is a gorgeous looking movie.The writing is Woody all the way. There is no mistaking that. The dialogue is still wrought with that Jewish angst, that unmistakable back-and-forth between his carefully drawn fully realized Jewish characters. Woody writes the most believable conversations in the business. It's very rich, flavorful and real. This is how people talk. And the dialogue in Café Society is near perfection.The casting is brilliant. I won't go through the entire cast, character-by-character, but I will say they all fitted together beautifully. I'll admit to a big apprehension regarding Kristen Stewart. I was of the opinion, prior to seeing this, that she couldn't act. I've always considered her to be an actor with no range whatsoever. As bland and one dimensional as they come. In this, however, she was very good. Somehow Woody got an honest-to-goodness performance out of her. She actually showed some emotional range here. Another honorable mention: Steve Carrel. Terrific! Let me say that, although the casting as a whole was brilliant, there was no single outstanding performance. Together, though, they were superb. The big surprise was Kristen Stewart.So, right now, today, this is my favorite Woody Allen movie. It wasn't too corny, too "jokey", too heavy, or too neurotic. It looked absolutely beautiful. The sets were fabulous, as was wardrobe. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Woody is a master.

As I've said before , you have to be a Woody Allen fan to enjoy his movies. You have to flip a switch in your brain to enter his world, because it's not the real world. In the real world, people don't talk the way his characters do, which is well. Allen writes some masterful dialogue. He has a great command of the English language. I really enjoy that his characters speak so intelligently and succinctly and express themselves so well. That was certainly true of Kristin Stewart's character Veronica, and she stole the show. She was the ultimate siren that no man could resist, including this uncle and nephew. The establishing of that love triangle pulls you in right away. But, besides being beautiful, she expressed herself exquisitely, and dialogue that good is not easy on an actor because it doesn't roll off the tongue like common parlance. I was also impressed with the writing for the lead character Bobby and for Uncle Philip played by Steve Carrell. Allen created a much more interesting character for him than the guy he plays on The Office who is very one-dimensional.So, the situation between the uncle, the nephew, and the breathtaking siren really grabs you, and it builds to quite a peak. Then, the story almost seems to start over. Pairing Jesse Eisenberg and Blake Lively seemed a bit strained, maybe because he's only 5'7" and she's 5'10" although they tried to mitigate that in the film. She does look taller than him but not 3 inches taller. Her character is also named Veronica. The second act delves into the zany characters of Bobby's family, his parents, gangster brother, and sister, and I mean Woody Allen zany.The third act begins when Kristin Stewart's Veronica re-enters Bobby's life. But, the story never peaks again. It has no ending like the one in A Rainy Day in New York. There's no big epiphany.The story is set in the 1930s, and WA used the great jazz standards as scoring, and beautiful renditions too. I really enjoyed the music.So, the story has great acting, great dialogue, great music, and an intriguing plot. But, it peaks at the end of the first act. I'm not sure where it needed to go, but it needed to go somewhere.