Review of Magic in the Moonlight (2014) by Manny C — 31 Aug 2014

For many filmmaking is an art. For Woody Allen, it's a reflex and a way of life. Ever since 1969's Take The Money and Run, Allen has written and directed a film almost every year, critics and audience taste be damned. At 78, Allen is not slowing. Not all of his newer films reach the artistic heights of Annie Hall, Manhattan, Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters and Crimes and Misdemeanors, but he still has his modern masterworks (think Match Point, Midnight In Paris and Blue Jasmine), and all of them bear the mark of a talent who sees the world like no one else.

On the surface, Magic In The Moonlight seems like a huge throwaway. Set in 1920's France and packed with characters who wouldn't be out of place in an episode of Downton Abbey, it's a beguiling romantic comedy that goes down easy. The amazing Darius Khondji (The Immigrant) creates sumptuous images of the south of France, so good you can just wallow in it. Is it more than that? Whether it is and whether it needs to be is your call, but Allen is exploring what makes love worth believing in, and whether there's a magic to it.

Colin Firth is charm epitomized as Stanley Crawford, a total cynic who enjoys sniffing out phonies. His sharp powers of deduction are furthered fueled by his work as 'Chinese' magician Wei Ling Soo. His latest mission brings him to his friend Howard Burkan (Simon McBurney), who drags him to the Catledge mansion on the Cote d'Azur so that he can expose Sophie Baker (Emma Stone), an American spiritualist who has the family in her thrall with her medium powers. Can Sophie actually arrange a seance to unite Grace Catledge (Jacki Weaver, wonderful) with her deceased husband? Can she steal the heart of Grace's son, Brice (Hamish Linklater) and indulge in the life of luxury for her and her mother (Marcia Gay Harden)? Everyone's eyes are on Stanley, who vows 'She won't fool me.'.

All of the actors, including Eileen Atkins as Stanley's acid-tongued aunt Vanessa, are aces. But the film hinges most on the sparks between Firth and Stone, who make total magic. Stone, free from Spider-Man drivel, is just a delight. And Firth is a wonder, especially when he finally allows Stanley to let loose. While taking shelter from an abandoned observatory, Sophie and Stanley take notice of the stars. For her, they're seductive, for him, they're menacing. Typical Allen. Is love what can conquer all or can it really be trusted, a query that's been plaguing Allen since Annie Hall. It's that shot of melancholy that makes Magic In The Moonlight especially memorable.