Good movie. Coulda been great if not for the two leads.

I loved Woody Allen's previous two films even though most critics did not. This latest film has lukewarm reviews but are more positive than for the two previous efforts, Irrational Man and Magic in the Moonlight. I, however, was sorely disappointed with CAFÉ SOCIETY.

Despite a game Jesse Eisenberg performance and an all-too-brief role from the luminescent Blake Lively--who should really be named Blake LOVELY, this was a disappointment. While there were about a dozen funny lines, the film consisted largely of flat, pedestrian dialogue between Eisenberg and the wooden Kristen Stewart, an underwritten Steve Carrell, and an utterly wasted use of the charming Parker Posey, whose character served absolutely no purpose in this film. In fact, everyone and everything was underwritten in this.

On the plus side there were beautiful sets, cinematorgraphy, art direction, costumes, and music, but everything about the movie was half baked. Not Woody's worst, but towards the bottom. I feel as though the cative roll that Woody had been on since Midnight in Paris has come to an end.

What was Zuckerbergian about his character? If you're talking about his delivery, that's how he's acted since before The Social Network.

I thought the leads were just fine (even Stewart, though no great actress). Overall I just think the script was a little empty. Charming and fun, like many of Woody's films, but it was uneven to start with. Most notably, Bobby seemed to have no real goal; at first I just assumed he really wanted to make it in the movie business, but even though he's enamored by his first tour of Beverly Hills, when he finally gets to meet some people at Phil's party, the first thing he does is call Vonnie and tell her how boring and beneath him it all is. The only reason he really gives for moving all the way across the country is that he didn't like working in his family's jewelry shop.

But the cinematography was beautiful (as were the settings), and a few scenes were pretty good (such as the hooker scene, wish that character had shown up again). The film got better as it went on, but it leans heavily on Woodyisms (May-December romance, hatred of LA/love of NY, reverence for 1930's Hollywood, questioning of death and afterlife) though I liked the melancholy ending. Took me by surprise, but felt just right.

Better than his last two films (especially Irrational Man), but not nearly as good as Blue Jasmine or Midnight in Paris.

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