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Cafe Society Movie Review

Name: Cafe Society Movie Review
Item: Cafe Society
Rating: 3
Author: Lalitha Mallikeswaran

Cafe Society Movie Review English Movie Review

Written by

Review for the film " Cafe Society"

Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video

Runtime: 01 Hour 36 Minutes

Certificate: UA

Released: 15-07-2016

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Similar To: Lying And Stealing, Wendy, White Boy Rick, International Incident

Critic Review
User Review

3 / 5.0

3.61 / 5.0

CAST & CREW

Woody Allen

MORE CAST & CREW

Producer:

Letty Aronson

Stephen Tenenbaum

Edward Walson

Editor:

Alisa Lepselter

Director:

Woody Allen

Costume Designer:

Suzy Benzinger

Art Director:

Michael E Goldman

Doug Huszti

First Assistant Director:

Danielle Rigby

John M Morse

Second Assistant Director:

Ronan O Connor

Richard Oswald

Nick Notte

Brad Robinson

Andrew Ward

Director of Photography:

Vittorio Storaro

Stunt Director:

Damian Achilles

Brian Morvant

Executive Producer:

Adam B Stern

Ron Chez

Allan Teh

Line Producer:

Helen Robin

Dialogue Writer:

Woody Allen

Visual Effects Producer:

Glenn Allen

Richard Friedlander

Still Photographer:

Sabrina Lantos

Sound Effects Editor:

David Wahnon

empty:

Lee Dichter

Assistant Editor:

Kate Rose Itzkowitz

Assistant Costume Designer:

Elizabeth Kirby

Marco Piemontese

Visual Effects Supervisor:

Eran Dinur

Screenplay Writer:

Woody Allen

Story Writer:

Woody Allen

Script Supervisor:

Rebecca Boyle

Sharon Watt

Gaffer:

Tom Derose

James M Cox

Jay Fortune

Foley Artist:

Gavin Hecker

Production Designer:

Santo Loquasto

Set Decorator:

Nancy Haigh

Regina Graves

Shannon Finnerty

Casting Associate:

Meghan Rafferty

Costume Assistant:

Lindsey Lambert

Location Manager:

Caleb Duffy

Christopher Britton

Daniel Pollack

Jennifer Kennedy

Makeup Artist:

Randi Mavestrand

Julie Hewett

Nicole Wodowski

Stunt Coordinator:

Manny Siverio

Stunt Double:

Scott Burik

Digital Compositor:

Mina Choe

Gozde Basak Geckinli

Compositor:

Christina Shin

Yunsik Noh

Set Dresser:

Robert S Dressel

Randy Severino

Jon Nicholson

Sound Mixer:

David J Schwartz

Lisa Pinero

Boom Operator:

Kelly Doran

Shawn Allen

Assistant Art Director:

Peter Dorsey

Katya Blumenberg

Lighting Technician:

Mike Cruz

Lorne Macdougall

Production Supervisor:

Scott Kordish

Michelle Brattson

Justin Haut

First Assistant Editor:

Sharon Perlman

Costume Supervisor:

Susan J Wright

Production Assistant:

Will O Donnell

Spencer Frazen

empty:

Dann Fink

Click Here For Full Cast & Crew

Café Society is a comedy, drama film written and directed by Woody Allen Heywood Allen, also known as Heywood “Woody” Allen >> Read More... . This biography features Steve Carell Steven John "Steve" Carell, born on August 16, 196 >> Read More... (Phil Stern), Sheryl Lee Born in a creative family, Sheryl had a mother who >> Read More... (Karen Stern), Jesse Eisenberg Jesse Adam Eisenberg is an American author, actor, >> Read More... (Bobby), Kristen Stewart Started as an extra, made her own way through Holl >> Read More... (Vonnie), Blake Lively Blake Lively was born on August 25th, 1987 in the >> Read More... , Todd Weeks (Oscar), Paul Schackman (Al), Jodi Carlisle (Maid), Jeannie Berlin (Rose), Ken Stoot (Marty), Richard Portnow (Walt), Sari Lennick (Evelyn), Stephen Kunken Stephen Michael Kunken was born in Upper Brookvill >> Read More... (Leonard), Laurel Griggs (Evelyn’s Daughter), Corey Stoll Born on 14th March 1976, in New York, US, Corey St >> Read More... (Ben) and others. Matt Hirt has given the music for this film. The producers of this movie are Letty Aronson, Ron Chez, Helen Robin, Adam B. Stern, Marc I. Stern, Stephen Tenenbaum, and Edward Walson. Vittorio Storaro is the cinematographer of this film. Alisa Lepselter did the editing work for this movie.

Plot

The movie is set in 1930s Hollywood, where an influential agent Phil Stern lives. He receives a call from her sister who asks him to find some work for her son Bobby, an aspiring writer from New York City. When Bobby arrives, Phil asks his secretary Vonnie, a beautiful young lady, to show Bobby around the town. Bobby gets impressed by Vonnie’s sharp mind and free spirit demeanor who is against the dark side of the show business. But to Bobby’s surprise, Vonnie already has a boyfriend whose name is ‘Doug’. It turns out that Doug is no one else but Phil who is cheating on his wife and children with Vonnie. How this entangled love triangle will be solved? The story of the movie reveals the further life of these characters.

Star Performances

Blake Lively shines through her character portrayal in this film. Steve showcases a great deal of emotional variation through his character in this film. He proved his worth as an actor. Kristine to my surprise was the one who outshined over others through her performance in this movie. The great deal of details and nuances used by her in her gestures while portraying Vonnie enhanced her performance. Jesse’s performance is fine. Most of the time, it feels like he impersonated younger Allen’s personality and nothing more. The rest of the cast of the movie performed as per the movie’s story.

Analysis

Woody Allen is back with his trademark kind of movie. He portrays 1930s American Hollywood through the movie, ‘ Cafe Society Click to look into! >> Read More... ’. The movie intricately amalgamates together vivid themes of love, ambition, and the so-called beauty of the Hollywood world. He skillfully presents the nostalgic era and its glitz and glamour through different characters. The dialogues of this film are sometimes cliché but overall they successfully infuse the humor to this dramatic love-oriented story. The witty representation of the desires and ambitions of different characters through the dialogues, in the film, didn’t feel out of order and authentically represented the human emotions. Kristine and Blake did an excellent job and delivered compelling performances through their characters in the movie. Steve adds a fine touch to the story through his portrayal of Phil. However, Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Bobby fails to leave a lasting impression on the viewers. He feels like a wasted opportunity. The remaining cast helped the narrative of the film through their performances. The lavish and grand set designs, the costumes, and the classic Hollywood ambiance of the movie stand out. It enhances the audience’s experience. Also, Vittorio Storaro‘s cinematography elegantly captures the lush landscapes of Los Angeles and New York City in a retro theme that blew viewers’ minds. It’s a visually stunning movie. Except for some minor falters, the editing of this movie is seamlessly smooth. The evocative music engages the audience’s minds. One involuntarily starts singing the music of this film while watching it. While the lead characters are well-rounded with a complete character arc, some of the supporting characters are underutilized and underdeveloped. The climax of this film fails to impress as it should like any other Allen’s films.

What’s There?

• The actors in the film display great acting performances.

• Over the top cinematography enhances the watching experience of the audience.

• Direction of the film felt too good.

• The production quality and design of the film is praise worthy.

• The film features some great and exhilarating music.

What’s Not There?

• There are pacing issues in the film.

• The uneven character development bore the audience.

• There are some cliché dialogues in the movie that causes lack of audience’s interest.

• A lost potential with the dark theme associated with Hollywood is a major negative point for the film.

• The divisive ending fails to impress its niche audience.

Verdict

‘Café Society’ is a dramatic comedy with a pinch of romance in it. It has beautiful cinematography, great music, excellent production designs and sets. The movie lacks in some aspects, such as it fails to explore the dark theme associated with Hollywood in-depth. Also, the pacing issues in the film deteriorate the movie-watching experience of the audience. The execution lacks but overall ‘Café Society’ did embrace the themes of love, ambition, and allure of Hollywood with great details and nuances. It is a beautiful movie but somehow feels incomplete.

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