In Magic in the Moonlight, a famous magician (Collin Firth) is asked to debunk an unusually convincing psychic (Emma Stone). The movie revolves around the twin questions of "is she or isn't she" and "does the world contain mystery and magic."
This period piece is attractive and pleasant, with a nice jazz score. It's got typical Woody Allen touches, like short bridge scenes that rather bluntly further the plot and people discussing philosophy and spirituality to great length. Firth is solid as the magician and Emma Stone is likable as the psychic, although you wouldn't guess from this movie that she was about to unleash Emma-Stone-the-brilliant-actress in Birdman later the same year.
Firth's cynicism is often unnecessarily obnoxious and Stone is rather unrealistically tolerant and even achieved by his boorish behavior. And the unlikely connection the two make is what caused my girlfriend to say, "well, Woody Allen's gonna Woody Allen." Because of course the young, fresh woman will be drawn to the old, brilliant cynic. Allen has his world view, after all.
The actors are good, the movie looks good, and the premise is intriguing. But the script and direction or just ... okay. It's a mildly funny comedy with little tension or surprise - I wasn't positive I knew how things would turn out but my guess did turn out to be on the money. And it would be refreshing if Woody Allen could have kept his worst Woody-tendencies at bay. But you know, Woody's Allen's gonna...
This period piece is attractive and pleasant, with a nice jazz score. It's got typical Woody Allen touches, like short bridge scenes that rather bluntly further the plot and people discussing philosophy and spirituality to great length. Firth is solid as the magician and Emma Stone is likable as the psychic, although you wouldn't guess from this movie that she was about to unleash Emma-Stone-the-brilliant-actress in Birdman later the same year.
Firth's cynicism is often unnecessarily obnoxious and Stone is rather unrealistically tolerant and even achieved by his boorish behavior. And the unlikely connection the two make is what caused my girlfriend to say, "well, Woody Allen's gonna Woody Allen." Because of course the young, fresh woman will be drawn to the old, brilliant cynic. Allen has his world view, after all.
The actors are good, the movie looks good, and the premise is intriguing. But the script and direction or just ... okay. It's a mildly funny comedy with little tension or surprise - I wasn't positive I knew how things would turn out but my guess did turn out to be on the money. And it would be refreshing if Woody Allen could have kept his worst Woody-tendencies at bay. But you know, Woody's Allen's gonna...