- #Movie magic in the moonlight movie#
- #Movie magic in the moonlight professional#
- #Movie magic in the moonlight series#
It’s no major huge spoiler to reveal that after hearing Sophie make psychic pronouncements about his past, he grows abruptly convinced of her powers - so much so that he even calls for a press conference to denounce his atheistic point of view.
If only Allen gave them more to wade through. It’s obvious that not every motive comes from a sincere place, but given those expectations, Firth and Stone are pleasant enough to watch. Firth and Stone generate terrific onscreen chemistry, as the older actor’s leery expression clashes nicely with Stone’s wide-eyed reactions whenever she claims to have received a premonition. This is a Woody Allen movie! Their romantic attraction marks one element this feature gets right, once again because Allen apparently cedes control to his cast. Within the opening minutes, when Stanley’s old magician pal Howard (Simon McBurney) beckons Stanley to the south of France so he can scrutinize Sophie’s seances, viewers may be able to relate to her supernatural claims by predicting plot’s future direction: Naturally, the skeptically-minded Stanley is entranced by Sophie’s abilities - in addition to her physical appearance, of course.īut forget about the 28-year age difference between the pair.
“Magic in the Moonlight,” however, registers as more paper scrap than movie. Sometimes, that’s just enough to provide a foundation for his traditional storytelling to gel with the actors eager to inhabit his stylish world. Weide’s 2012 “American Masters” documentary on Allen knows that he keeps a small box filled with scraps of paper on which he jots down brief ideas for projects. But maybe that’s worst: it’s simultaneously possible to detect Allen’s voice in every scene and recognize the sheer lack of ambition behind it.Īnyone familiar with Robert B. That being said, this is no travesty of “Scoop”-level proportions, nor does it show the markings of clumsy storytelling like Allen’s most recent misfire, “To Rome With Love.” Instead, “Magic in the Moonlight” offers a half-baked scenario and follows through on it with largely unmemorable results. Unfortunately, unlike Cate Blanchett’s remarkable capacity to wrestle the material of last year’s “Blue Jasmine” into her own furious showcase, the actors are provided with a limited range of options. “Magic in the Moonlight” belongs to the pool of lesser Allen comedies, yet Firth and Emma Stone - as the alleged necromancer Sophie Baker, the object of Stanley’s scrutiny and eventually his affections - bring all the zany energy they can muster.
#Movie magic in the moonlight movie#
In the end, the biggest trick Magic In The Moonlight plays is the one that fools everyone.The director, who turns 80 next year, cranks out a movie per year with an arbitrary track record that often depends on whether the material provides enough substance for his cast to do something interesting with it.
#Movie magic in the moonlight series#
What follows is a series of events that are magical in every sense of the word and send the characters reeling. Sophie arrived at the Catledge villa at the invitation of Grace, who is convinced that Sophie can help her contact her late husband, and once there, attracted the attention of Brice, who has fallen for her head over heels. He presents himself as a businessman named Stanley Taplinger in order to debunk the alluring young clairvoyant Sophie Baker (Emma Stone) who is staying there with her mother (Marcia Gay Harden). Persuaded by his friend, Howard Burkan (Simon McBurney), Stanley goes on a mission to the Côte d’Azur mansion of the Catledge family: mother Grace (Jacki Weaver), son Brice (Hamish Linklater), and daughter Caroline (Erica Leerhsen). More specifically, Chinese conjuror Wei Ling Soo is the most celebrated magician of his age, but few know that he is the stage persona of Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth), a grouchy and arrogant Englishman with a sky-high opinion of himself and an aversion to phony spiritualists’ claims.
#Movie magic in the moonlight professional#
Personal and professional complications ensue. In the 1920s-set comedy, Oscar winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) stars in the romantic comedy about an Englishman brought in to help unmask a possible swindle. The movie Magic In The Moonlight is Woody Allen’s follow up to last year’s Oscar winner, Blue Jasmine.
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