SummaryMagic in the Moonlight is a romantic comedy about an Englishman brought in to help unmask a possible swindle. Personal and professional complications ensue. The film is set in the south of France in the 1920s against a backdrop of wealthy mansions, the Côte d’Azur, jazz joints and fashionable spots for the wealthy of the Jazz Age. [Sony ...
SummaryMagic in the Moonlight is a romantic comedy about an Englishman brought in to help unmask a possible swindle. Personal and professional complications ensue. The film is set in the south of France in the 1920s against a backdrop of wealthy mansions, the Côte d’Azur, jazz joints and fashionable spots for the wealthy of the Jazz Age. [Sony ...
A master stroke of enchantment from one of the few legitimate cinematic geniuses of the modern cinema, with a nimble and tender performance of enormous elegance and charm by Colin Firth that is heart-meltingly romantic.
Melancholy and doubt may seem like gloomy qualities to blend into an amorous romp. But that shot of gravity is what makes Magic in the Moonlight memorable and distinctively Woody Allen.
Magic In The Moonlight is one of Woody Allens better recent films; quite
complex,
Worth seeing for the photography alone. Colin Firth and Emma Stone
add something incredibly nice to this.
There are all sorts of subtleties and textures in this film, so it's
Not a standard " Rom-Com" but more like a Whit Stillman ( Metropolitan,
Barcelona) type film.
As good or better than " Midnight In Paris."
One distraction is that everything feels smothered in an extra helping of déjà vu sauce: another movie featuring a middle-aged misanthrope with a dewy younger woman; another film with stage magic as a theme.
Stone, last seen in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” is served best. Gliding through the film in sailor-girl outfits that evoke film stars of the 1920s, Stone’s big kewpie eyes and long-limbed gamine appeal fit in this era of silent films.
Maybe that pictorial pleasantness will distract summer moviegoers from the fact that shot-to-shot transitions are often awkward, dialogue scenes are forced and poorly staged and that even by rom-com standards the obstacles created to keep Sophie and Stanley apart until a respectable running time has elapsed are idiotic.
This movie is absolutely fantastic! I find it unbelievable that it has such a low Metacritic rating. My wife and I went to see it despite the poor reviews. We loved ever minute of it. It's beautifully shot, funny, thought provoking, romantic, and truly clever. The performances were terrific which carried the story so well. The costumes and the locations amazing together. I think this is one of Woody Allen's top pictures. For those critics who marked this film negatively, you pretty much have identified yourself as someone who should go back to teaching gym.
For many people Magic in the Moonlight was a weak film in Allen's filmography, but that depends on the baton on which they are measuring it.
This film is a sister of Midnight In Paris and From Rome With Love, even Blue Jazmin shares certain elements in its concept, the style is similar but with its clear and obvious differences, to that extent this a complete work and a worthy addition.
For an atheist such as himself, this ultimately means a critique of religion or spiritual elements that he rejects as fake scams. Yet, here, Allen shows a hint of regret for his full on rejection of faith and religion. Certainly, Magic in the Moonlight does not endorse religion or show an about face turn from the director's hard line stance on the subject, but it does show a tinge of regret. While his aforementioned 2010 picture, which could be seen as a companion piece to this one, explored the joy of delusion, this film shows the joy of not being so pessimistic and antagonistic. Instead, enjoying the simple magic of daily life and the mysteries of the world that science cannot answer, one can find unbridled joy.
Starring Colin Firth and Emma Stone, the romance of the film may go awry a bit since Firth is twice Stone's age, but as with all of Allen's films, philosophy plays a huge part. Name dropping Freud and Nietzsche as often as he name drops God, Allen toys with the idea of his surrogate, magician and skeptic Stanley Crawford (Firth), coming to religion upon meeting Sophie Baker (Stone). A famed magician and debunker of mediums, Stanley is tasked with debunking Sophie as a medium capable of communicating with spirits. However, whatever her trick, Stanley begins to believe she actually is a medium and, as such, the very core of his beliefs is shaken beyond repair. When his aunt has an accident is in the hospital, he even begins to pray. But, he catches himself and begins to chastise himself for actually believing in Sophie and, as such, a spiritual side to the world. However, he is so pessimistic and self-righteous, he is unable to look beyond the scope of his own opinion. He merely looks at religion and the belief in mediums as nothing but delusions that distract people from their pain, rather than being actual solutions.
This pessimism hurts him in his romance with Sophie. He is such a pragmatist, he is unable to give into chance and take a risk with a girl who may be worth taking a risk for. Instead, he has a set idea as to what the woman he is with is supposed to do and be like. The feelings Sophie conjures within him are foreign and beyond rational thought, as such, they are wrong. Since they are inexplicable, it is beyond comprehension that is anything but his heart steering his head, which is disastrous. Thus, she must be rejected unless she agrees. It is only once he begins to look past this hard headedness that he begins to believe in her and, even when this faith is shaken, he is able to give into the magical mysteriousness of the world and follow his heart.
To me, this seems to be an admission of regret by Allen. Just as You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger saw him conceding that those that give into "delusions" are happier than he will ever be, Magic in the Moonlight finds him admitting he should be less pessimistic. While he can still be an atheist, being outspoken on the subject and some focused on rationality may not be the best course of action, given the unbridled joy that giving into magic can create.
All of that said though, the chemistry between Firth and Stone could have been better. The casting of them as the leads is curious and hurts the final product, as does the predictability of the whole thing. That said, both turn in solid performances, even if neither is excellent in the film. The real joy is yet another late-period Woody Allen flick that finds him dumping characters into the European countryside and letting them drive around. That said, it does deviate a bit from his other works as it is far less neurotic than many of his films. Though Firth spews a lot of Allen-esque lines in regards to philosophy, he lacks the chaotic and colliding way of speaking that Allen has and many Allen surrogates have had, driving at the character's neurotic state of being. In Magic in the Moonlight, neurosis is not nearly as much of a factor, especially in comparison to the melancholy tinge of regret that dominates this picture. Mildly funny and somewhat romantic, the film largely succeeds philosophically and with the easy and light nature of entertainment that Woody Allen films always provide.
After the high of 'Blue Jasmine' with its engaging story, funny lines and sublime leading lady,' Magic in the Moonlight' is an almost inevitable disappointment from the inconsistent Woody Allen. Desperately lacking laughs this tale of Colin Firth's determination to unmask fraudulent medium Emma Stone comes over as a mere trifle. The story is needlessly protracted for an Allen film and would have been overlong at 80 minutes let alone 97!
Colin Firth makes little impression and most of the rest of a potentially good cast are wasted on the below par material. Eileen Atkins probably comes of best, but Emma Stone is likeable even as she starts to drown due to a poverty of ideas. In fact, only the costume design is noteworthy here capturing perfectly the 1920's setting.
Ultimately, 'Magic in the Moonlight' becomes boredom in the cinema as the already thin storyline starts to evaporate. By the end it has all but disappeared, following, it would seem, the example of one of Firth's own conjuring tricks.
Woody Allen loves to make movies even when he has nothing to say. This film is a romantic comedy without romance or comedy. Colin Firth can do no wrong as an actor, but the script keeps him from doing anything right. Emma Stone looks washed out. Eileen Atkins' crisp delivery can't quite redeem soggy lines. It is painful to see a director and actors you admire working at such a low, tired level of inspiration. Mr. Allen maybe it's time to return to Manhattan. Mr. Firth, if movie scripts are barren, do a play.