Café Society

Set in the 1930s, Woody Allen's bittersweet coming-of-age tale follows eager, earnest Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg), who moves from the Bronx to Hollywood, where he goes to work for his pretentious Uncle Phil (Steve Carell), a name-dropping, big-time talent agent. Bobby immediately falls in love with Phil's secretary (Kristen Stewart), who drives him to see movie stars' mansions in Beverly Hills. “Menial errands are my specialty,” Bobby guilelessly explains, “but I don't see a great future in it.” Trying not to be intoxicated by the shallow glitz and schmoozing gossip, Bobby nevertheless winds up brokenhearted, returning to his working-class Jewish family in New York, where he enters the nightclub business with his gangster brother (Corey Stoll) and marries a beautiful blonde socialite (Blake Lively). Eisenberg cheerfully channels Allen's neurotic nebbish character (Allen himself narrates), backed by a superb supporting ensemble (Parker Posey, Ken Stott, Anna Camp). Italian cinematographer Vittorio Stororo evokes the nostalgic glamour of Tinseltown's Golden Age and the excitement of Manhattan's swanky, Depression-era cabaret scene. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include an “On the Red Carpet” featurette (2 min.), and a photo gallery. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for a solid Woody Allen film.] (S. Granger)