I have several problems with this film (and there are things I do like about it too). In no specific order, what I don't like--too much name dropping. People in the 30s didn't talk that way. The film becomes some weird kind of encyclopedia about classic film stars. And sometimes Allen has to explain who they are. He has a character mention Bill Powell, then has the character clarify this means William Powell. Everyone in Hollywood at that time would know who Bill Powell was and probably nobody called him William Powell, except fans reading his billing on screen.
The name dropping is really a problem in the party scenes. The agent keeps saying Greta Garbo is somewhere, that Joan Blondell is floating around, but it's just names, we never see them. And these are supposed to be high-powered parties, where everyone would be in attendance. It's like Woody Allen is afraid to bring them on screen and present them as real characters, which just seems silly. Can you imagine if THE AVIATOR, a story about Howard Hughes, only mentioned Katharine Hepburn, Jean Harlow and Ava Gardner and never showed them? There are plenty of celebrity impersonators Allen could have hired for these scenes.
I think Woody's voice-over narration is-- I don't want to sound mean-- not very impressive. His voice is quite shaky. He should work with a therapist to strengthen his voice or else have someone else do the narration. It kept taking me out of the story.
There's no real chemistry between the actor who plays the uncle (Steve Carrell) and the girl (Kristen Stewart) he supposedly loves so passionately. I think a sexier actor should've been used instead of Carrell. Bruce Willis was originally hired for this role and left the project, but even he doesn't seem right. Meanwhile, it seemed unusual that she had a Masters Degree and she's working as a secretary to him. She didn't really come across as a very educated girl.
What I like-- Jeannie Berlin is great as the young guy's mother back in New York. Allen should have built the movie around her. Better yet, a new film should be made with her and Julie Kavner as sisters. That would be something.
Jesse Eisenberg is good as the young lovestruck protagonist, though I do think he's forcing some Allenesque mannerisms. I like the irony that the girl in Hollywood and the girl he ends up marrying in New York have the same first name (Veronica). But I don't think Blake Lively has chemistry with Eisenberg. It's kind of like putting a young Jane Seymour with a young Woody Allen, and that doesn't quite work.
The music is wonderful. Plus the costumes are fabulous, and so are the cars and hairstyles. But a clip of Barbara Stanwyck and Gene Raymond in a film glimpsed within the film (THE WOMAN IN RED) shows that women and men from that era actually dressed a bit differently. So basically CAFE SOCIETY is relying on stereotypes and manufactured memories about the 30s; thus, it is not too authentic.
The name dropping is really a problem in the party scenes. The agent keeps saying Greta Garbo is somewhere, that Joan Blondell is floating around, but it's just names, we never see them. And these are supposed to be high-powered parties, where everyone would be in attendance. It's like Woody Allen is afraid to bring them on screen and present them as real characters, which just seems silly. Can you imagine if THE AVIATOR, a story about Howard Hughes, only mentioned Katharine Hepburn, Jean Harlow and Ava Gardner and never showed them? There are plenty of celebrity impersonators Allen could have hired for these scenes.
I think Woody's voice-over narration is-- I don't want to sound mean-- not very impressive. His voice is quite shaky. He should work with a therapist to strengthen his voice or else have someone else do the narration. It kept taking me out of the story.
There's no real chemistry between the actor who plays the uncle (Steve Carrell) and the girl (Kristen Stewart) he supposedly loves so passionately. I think a sexier actor should've been used instead of Carrell. Bruce Willis was originally hired for this role and left the project, but even he doesn't seem right. Meanwhile, it seemed unusual that she had a Masters Degree and she's working as a secretary to him. She didn't really come across as a very educated girl.
What I like-- Jeannie Berlin is great as the young guy's mother back in New York. Allen should have built the movie around her. Better yet, a new film should be made with her and Julie Kavner as sisters. That would be something.
Jesse Eisenberg is good as the young lovestruck protagonist, though I do think he's forcing some Allenesque mannerisms. I like the irony that the girl in Hollywood and the girl he ends up marrying in New York have the same first name (Veronica). But I don't think Blake Lively has chemistry with Eisenberg. It's kind of like putting a young Jane Seymour with a young Woody Allen, and that doesn't quite work.
The music is wonderful. Plus the costumes are fabulous, and so are the cars and hairstyles. But a clip of Barbara Stanwyck and Gene Raymond in a film glimpsed within the film (THE WOMAN IN RED) shows that women and men from that era actually dressed a bit differently. So basically CAFE SOCIETY is relying on stereotypes and manufactured memories about the 30s; thus, it is not too authentic.