Café Society (2016)

IMDb plot summary: 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.
Directed by Woody Allen. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Steve Carell, Kristen Stewart, and Corey Stoll.

Woody Allen's output hasn't decreased in terms of quantity, but its quality over recent years has been subject to debate. Aside from the unqualifiedly great Midnight in Paris and Blue Jasmine, the last 20 years or so have been movies that didn't make much of an impact one way or the other. This is another one of those. It's one of the few films where I feel like Woody's dialogue is actually stilted, but I can't tell if that's entirely the dialogue's fault or because its actors do a poor job with it. Jesse Eisenberg is fine (his persona easily encompasses the smug-yet-self-deprecating bon mots that Allen gives most of his characters), but Steve Carell and Kristen Stewart both seem uncomfortable with their lines and never settle into their characters. By far the most entertaining scene is early on, between Eisenberg and Anna Camp as a nervous prostitute. When the film finally winds to an end, it falls flat. A stronger ending or stronger actors might have saved it, but as it is, this is lower-tier Allen.

2.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Cafe Society > Days of Heaven
Cafe Society < A Clockwork Orange
Cafe Society < The Gold Rush
Cafe Society < Hancock
Cafe Society < George of the Jungle
Cafe Society < The 5th Wave
Cafe Society > Quills
Cafe Society < Company (2011)
Cafe Society > Office Space
Cafe Society > The Giver
Cafe Society < The Color Purple

Final spot: #1226 out of 2505.