Magic In The Moonlight (2014) Directed by Woody Allen. Starring: Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Eileen Atkins. IMDB says: “A romantic comedy about an Englishman brought in to help unmask a possible swindle. Personal and professional complications ensue.”
Magic in the Moonlight is about all types of make believe, real life magic, and illusion. It’s about the mysterious happenings that occur all around us that are easy to believe in, like love, and those that are hard not to doubt, like someone knowing something from your past by a feeling they get. Magic is about many wonderful notions and what they can mean in your life, but despite all the big ideas this isn’t a very memorable film. To be fair, it’s not trying to be heavy or overly thoughtful. It brings these ideas up with a tone of whimsy and aims for delight. It succeeds to an extent, just enough to be enjoyable for a moment, and then slips away without leaving much of an impression.
It begins with a performance by the famous Wei Ling Soo performing his act on a stage before walking back to his dressing room to rip off his costume attire and reveal the wonderful face of Colin Firth. Stanley, a renowned illusionist and hard and fast skeptic, is challenged by an old friend to debunk a young American girl who appears to be a real deal clairvoyant. He travels to the French coast to the estate where Sophie (Emma Stone) has taken up residence with a rich American family who are completely in awe of her gifts. The son, Brice (Hamish Linklater) has even fallen for the girl and hopes to marry.
Things get interesting when Sophie rattles Stanley with her abilities and he questions if she might actually be the clairvoyant ingénue she claims to be. The story also has a romantic angle as Sophie is much more drawn to this curmudgeon than the suffocating doting of Brice. The love connection is not actually necessary but since it’s not the primary focus of the film, it provides comedy for the most part.
It’s cute and sometimes quite funny, with enough scattered insight to maybe give you something to think about as you watch. I really liked Firth and Stone in their respective parts, although their romantic pairing does not work all that well. My favorite aspects of the film might be the gorgeous backdrop of France and the 1920’s wardrobe. I’m not sure that’s a shining endorsement of a film, but it did result in a pretty movie and enough else is there to deem this a decent watch.
