Review of Magic in the Moonlight (2014) by Andrew S — 23 Jan 2015

While I thought I'd be willing to watch Colin Firth (be still, my beating Anglophile heart ...) sit on a log, and willing to listen to him read a phone book, this was an awful waste of Firth, and every other actor in the film.

To boot, the direction was dismal - the dialog stilted; the delivery lacking any subtle nuance; the scene changes jarring. From the moment Howard greets Stanley backstage, onward, the story was predictable - although I'll admit, what with Aunt Vanessa's speech about Stanley being a horridly unemotional and stoic youngster, I first thought it she, not Howard, who'd masterminded the game setting Stanley up for a fall .

.. still, from the start, it was clear that he was being set up ... I just personally thought everyone was in on the gag. There was absolutely no chemistry between Stone and Firth - and it had absolutely nothing to do with age (if you want May-December, bumpkin-sophisticate chemistry, watch Hepburn-Harrison, in 'My Fair Lady', or Fontain-Olivier, in 'Rebecca'.

I am so glad I did not see this in a theater (especially as the entire dialog was far too loud, throughout ...), and only 'wasted' a stop at the library, to borrow the film.