[yasr_overall_rating]
Set in the 1930s, a young Bronx native moves to Hollywood where he falls in love with the secretary of his powerful uncle, an agent to the stars. After returning to New York he is swept up in the vibrant world of high society nightclub life.
As I viewed this film, scene by scene, I could literally check off a list of things you always see in a Woody Allen movie. While there is no denying that he is astutely aware of what it takes to make an interesting movie, he appears to be stuck in a never-ending cycle of immoral duplication. While I was expecting the traditional love-triangle plot, I wasn’t expecting the appeal of actress Kristen Stewart to be as great a complement to the movie’s plot. Additionally, the vibe of old-style Hollywood was refreshing and on point as Hollywood’s elite gathered in places that only they can do, dropping names and making iconic deals with the intention of causing a further divide between the haves and the have knots.
Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) plays an outstanding role as a young jewish man who is literally pushed by his family in the Bronx to go and make a name for himself in California with the assistance of his admirable uncle Phil (Steve Carell) who appears to have a connection to every great person linked to the 1930’s Hollywood glamorous lifestyle. After arriving in Hollywood, a determined Bobby isn’t put off by his uncle’s constant excuses for not meeting with him to discuss his future. With too many irons in the fire, Uncle Phil assigns his beautiful assistant Vonnie (Kristen Stewart), the duty of making Bobby feel welcome and keeping him out of the way until he can come up with something for him to do. Bobby, taken in by Vonnie’s availability and attention to detail, begins to fall in love with her before he realizes that she is the mistress of his uncle Phil. The plot thickens as Phil turns to Bobby for a listening ear after he decides to leave his beautiful wife for a mistress he can’t live without. When both men realize they are in love with the same woman, they compete for her affection and the inexperienced Bobby loses out to the more mature and sophisticated Phil. As fate would have it, Bobby goes back to the Bronx finds another Veronica (Blake Lively) and makes an honest life by marrying her and continuing his successful career catering to the elite Café Society. The marriages of both couples remain strong until they run into one another and Bobby and Vonnie realize they still have feelings for one another as well as the compulsion to act on them.
If it wasn’t so predictable, the film would be so much easier to digest. An interesting, humorous and formidable love story, albeit, but one that has less appeal due to the complexity of its simpleness. True fans of Woody Allen can rejoice in the consistency, while those hoping for a little different approach can take in the scenery and enjoy the virtues of a romance gone awry for so many reasons.
Opens in select theaters Friday, July 22nd
