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Woody Allen exhibits a quietly insistent cynicism (he would say “realism”) about the futility of human endeavor in a meaningless, godless universe, and other stuff, in both his works and his interviews. However, there is one facet of earthly existence that he clearly has a soft spot for, and that is The Past. This is because he remembers it so well. Which is possibly the reason that his most recent films set there — “Midnight in Paris” and this week’s “Café Society” — are among the most beguiling in his ongoing late work. “Midnight in Paris” and “Café Society” both come out this week.
A breathtaking shot of an impossibly clear-blue swimming pool at dusk, surrounded by elegant people in formal wear, serves as the opening image of “Café Society.” This shot sets the tone for the rest of the film. Despite Allen’s well-known and well-worn antipathy toward Los Angeles in general, the production designer Santo Loquasto and the cinematographer Vittorio Storaro have a very specific vision of 1930s Hollywood. Storaro is the legendary camera maestro here working, as is Allen, for the first time in the digital format, and knocking it out of the park. Talent agent Phil Stern (Steve Carell), who was seen at the poolside “holding court” before being interrupted by a phone call, is a major player and a contented fat cat, according to the narration that is provided by Woody Allen in the form of a voiceover. Phil receives a phone call from his older sister Rose (Jeannie Berlin), who is the matriarch of a family straight out of Woody Allen’s 1987 film “Radio Days.” Rose tells Phil that her youngest son Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) is heading out to the West Coast, and that Phil should help set him up, despite the fact that the enthusiastic young man doesn’t have the remotest idea of what he wants to do with his life.
When discussing “Radio Days,” Allen illustrates Bobby’s family using the same anecdotal detail that he utilized to such great effect in the earlier film. This served to highlight the character of Bobby. While Bobby’s older brother Ben (played by Corey Stoll) is a violent gangster, Bobby’s sister Evelyn (played by Sari Lennick) is married to a philosopher who teaches at a university. Allen’s mode of discourse is not unpleasant, and it does in fact pay off, albeit in a roundabout way, but we have no idea how any of this will have any bearing on Bobby’s adventures that are taking place on a continent thousands of miles away.
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As for Bobby himself, Eisenberg initially plays him as a young stand-in for Allen, albeit one who is a little more New York street-smart and self-determined than Allen was in his younger years. Bobby makes the decision, with long-distance encouragement from Ben, to sample the local call-girl culture. This leads to a scene that is reminiscent of “Deconstructing Harry” and is one of the movie’s few sour notes, despite Anna Camp’s game efforts as an inexperienced prostitute. During this time, Uncle Phil doesn’t see Bobby for a week because he is either too busy or uninterested in spending time with his nephew. When Phil finally comes face to face with the individual, he assigns him the role of errand boy and gives the responsibility of managing his social life to Veronica, also known as Vonnie, who is portrayed by the radiant Kristen Stewart. Together, they indulge in the authentic Mexican cuisine of Hollywood, the paradisiacal beaches of Malibu, and the ornate movie theaters displaying flawless prints of Barbara Stanwyck films. What a paradise it appears to be, with the exception that Bobby falls hopelessly in love with Vonnie, and Vonnie has a boyfriend about whom very little is known. One who is rarely seen because, for one thing, he is a married man, and for another thing…
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Now, I don’t want to give anything away, but if you don’t see what’s coming, then it’s likely that you haven’t seen very many films by Woody Allen. The plot of “Café Society” is, in some ways, predictable; however, in other ways, it takes unexpected turns, one of which is the “life goes on” detour that it takes halfway through the story. This detour justifies the film’s title, among other things. In their separate lives, Bobby takes over management of a swanky New York nightclub owned by his gangster brother, and Vonnie becomes a wife in Hollywood. Vonnie and Bobby had a long and happy relationship. The slow, lyrical, and melancholy final third of the film focuses on the central idea that they were never truly able to get over each other.
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When I watched “Irrational Man,” Woody Allen’s film that came out before this one in 2015, it occurred to me that he has accomplished something that I never would have predicted, and that he himself may have never dared hope for: at this point in his career, he is a better director than he is a writer. Woody Allen has achieved something that I never would have predicted, and that he himself may have never dared hope for. Allen’s work with his actors, his shot selection, and his pacing were supple and fleet, which made the movie more effective than it would seem to have had the right to be. The plot twists and dialogue of “Irrational Man” were familiar to the point that they were almost hoary. “Café Society” has sharper writing than “Irrational Man” (although the longtime follower of Allen will hear more than one recycled gag, including one from, of all pictures, the 1967 “Casino Royale”), and when it doesn’t, his cast is motivated enough to bring it off; as worn out as the movie’s already oft-quoted line about life being written by a “sadistic comedy writer” is, Eisenberg makes it work in context. (The performance that Eisenberg gives here is, by the way, one of his best in recent memory. After the one-two punch of “End of the Tour” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” I almost expected to never enjoy his work again. However, he does some pretty special things here; his reaction to seeing Vonnie again, unexpectedly, after a long time apart is one of them.) I almost expected to never enjoy his work again.
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However, the writing itself does not have the power to enchant in the same way that the filmmaking does. Especially toward the end, when Allen tallys up all of his characters’ immoral flaws, stifled desires, and crushed dreams, this theme becomes especially prominent. (The director provides voiceover narration throughout the entire movie, and while his timing and inflection are on point as they always have been, his voice is frail and weakening; for the first time in a film, he sounds like the person he is, which is an 80-year-old man.) And then he wraps everything up at a New Year’s celebration that is as visually beautiful as the pool party at the film’s opening, but at the same time is infused with a powerful but still wistful cinematic incense of paradise lost. This New Year’s celebration is the perfect way to bring the story to a close.Also, you must try to play this Cafe Society quiz.
For more personality quizzes check this: Fifty Shades Of Black Quiz.
