He does an amazing job directing his actors-- there is so much good chemistry between them and the intended vibe flows seamlessly throughout the movie because all the actors are on the same page.
The plot to Cafe Society is basically that Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) is living his life with a big on-going love story in between. I knew I wanted to see this movie because it's Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart together and I love them together, although in the back of my mind I knew they weren't going to end up together because it's a Woody Allen film-- nothing even turns out how it's supposed to and in this perfect movie world, they would be together.
The most rewarding part of this movie was the set design and costume design. The two main places Cafe Society takes place are California and New York. The sets in California were largely beige and washed out yellows with bold patches of color-- like a bright blue pool, or a group of vibrantly green trees in the middle of the scene. People in California were also dressed in light beige and yellow garb which blended beautifully with the set.
In New York, the color scale is more flashy and bold. Scenes are frequently dark and people are dressed in contrast to that, with much more color than California, but also, with much more showy, glitzy glam outfits. These elements are also used to develop character.
When Bobby first gets to California, he is dressed in dark browns-- he doesn't fit in with the color scale of literally everything else in California. As he makes his way up the ranks in the California film industry, his dress slowly camouflages in with everyone else's-- light yellows and beige's. This technique is used with Kristen Stewart's character as well later in the film, but every time it's used, it lets the audience in on some information that isn't directly told to them.
As I've pointed out in almost every other movie I've seen with Jesse Eisenberg, all he's really doing in this movie is playing his typical squirley, nervous character, Later in the movie, when he becomes more successful, he starts to be his very neurotic, douchey character. Really, Jesse Eisenberg has two kinds of characters that he plays: douchey and neurotic, and nervous and squirley. This of course is with the exception of American Ultra, my favorite Jesse Eisenberg movie. But in every other movie he's in, he is either one or the other, or a combination of the two. However, despite how predictable his performance is, I still really enjoyed it. I always really enjoy it. He plays squirley, nervous, neurotic, douche exceptionally well; in combination with Woody Allen's directing which made him witty and funny as well as everything else, Jesse Eisenberg made his character exceptionally entertaining.
Because this is a Woody Allen film, any audience member that is familiar with his movies will find this movie predictable. But just like Jesse Eisenberg's performance, the movie is still entertaining. I knew how this film was going to end but I was so enthralled and entertained by everything that was happening I didn't really care.
This is a super entertaining movie. It's fast paced, witty, and aesthetically wonderful. It's predictable in the way Woody Allen movies are, but it's enticing, and the story is really well told. The time jumps in the movie keep audiences' attention and allows for a lot to happen, but the main story line stays consistent. Even if you can't appreciate another Woody Allen movie, a least watch this movie as a service to your eyeballs-- so much is conveyed through set and costume design. The effort that went into making this film aesthetically incredible definitely payed off. This film is beautiful and if that's the only thing you can appreciate from this movie, I'd say that's enough.
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