Directed by:
Woody AllenScreenplay:
Woody AllenCinematography:
Darius KhondjiCast:
Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Antonia Clarke, Simon McBurney, Ute Lemper, Catherine McCormack, Eileen Atkins, Erica Leerhsen, Jeremy Shamos, Hamish Linklater (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Set in the 1920s on the opulent Riviera in the south of France, Woody Allen's Magic In The Moonlight is a romantic comedy about a master magician (Colin Firth) trying to expose a psychic medium (Emma Stone) as a fake. What follows is a series of events that are magical in every sense of the word and send the characters reeling. In the end, the biggest trick Magic In The Moonlight plays is the one that fools us all. (Sony Pictures)
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Reviews (7)
The Prestige in Woody Allen style. Woody, however, does not delve deeply enough into the characters to make it work between them. The sparks between Colin Firth and Emma Stone work perfectly only in a single scene (the observatory) and do not work at all in the crucial last quarter of the film (after the point has been made). The two are incompatible by nature. If Woody himself played the rational wet blanket, the film would at least not be unrealistic and would not strive for an impossible romantic dimension, but it would be a pure cheerful comedy. Poor three stars.
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This is a nice little film that seems to have actually been made in the late 1920s. By a slight coincidence, it features contemporary actors. Absolutely magnificent. Have I honestly ever not loved something that offered me Berlin in 1928? It would be very foolish to even expect such a thing. Of course, I can also never get enough of Colin, and that surprises me.
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Woody Allen shows that while he may be aging and his films can be somewhat verbose and meandering for some, without saying as much, when he takes on great actors like Firth or Stone, the result is still worth it. And this result is indeed worth it, not just because I have a weakness for illusions and magicians.
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The equivalent of a garden party clown you know exactly what to expect from. Nothing miraculous, but solidly performed craft where you know and can see through every magic trick, but that’s also what you are expecting from it and that’s what you are getting. But with Woody Allen you might expect him to pull something of Copperfield-type dimensions out of the hat after all and not to satisfy himself with something cute and trivial. Maybe in the next show.
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There were times when I looked forward to every premiere of Woody's films and didn't hesitate to sacrifice money and time for a visit to the movie theater. Those times are gone. Watching his films has started unpleasantly resembling routine checking off items on a list. He has nothing to surprise with and doesn't even attempt to. This is the second time he has used the setting of a cabaret magic show as a starting point, but The Curse of the Jade Scorpion seemed fresher and funnier to me, and it was made more for the viewer than for the indulgence of Woody's own ego. The beginning of the film looks promising. Colin Firth deservedly grabs attention and the role suits him. Emma Stone, if nothing else, is at least unique and the film somewhat works comedically until the revelation of the mystification. However, as the minutes pass, the film seems to get stuck, loses its charm, and becomes tiresome. It would be better if it had self-irony, a sense of reality, and the willingness to go beyond the threshold of emotional pain and informed sadness. The ending moves the film towards banality, one can hardly understand Sophie's choice of life partner. Woody succumbed to elderly vanity and I understand those comments that mention the word snob. Considering his previous merits, I will still give the film a weak 3 stars. In Magic in the Moonlight, a piece of Woody's life philosophy appears, partly taking inspiration from Oscar Wilde's legacy, but it's far from being one of his peak films. Overall impression: 50%.
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