Magia ao Luar

Woody Allen's latest film Magic in the Moonlight, is a light and fluffy piece of movie confection set on the photogenic Cote d'Azur that delights the eye but hardly taxes the brain.

Set in the 1920's, Colin Firth plays Charlie Crawford, better known by his stage-name Wei Ling Soo: a magician who staggers his audience nightly by making elephants disappear and by teleporting across the stage.

As a quick aside, Firth's characters is almost certainly based on the American Chinese-styled magician Chung Ling Soo who amazed Victorian audiences with his magic and inscrutable attitude but died (messily) on stage at the Wood Green Empire in London when a bullet catching trick went wrong. Whilst never ever speaking English in public to maintain his mystique, his last words (in English) were "Oh my God. Something's happened. Lower the curtain.". Strange but true.

But I digress.

Crawford has an ego the size of one of his elephants, with a cynical and wholly scientific approach to life, devoid of passion, romance or any frivolity. Wholly unpleasant to all around him, he revels in the public and publicised debunking of fakery in the form of tricksters and mystics. As such, when his lifelong friend and fellow magician Howard Burkan (Simon McBurney, the archbishop from BBC TV's "Rev" ) confesses to being completely stumped as to how young and attractive mystic Sophie Baker (Emma Stone) is fooling her rich and gullible marks, Crawford can't resist the challenge. Leaving his fiancée, ice-queen Olivia (Catherine McCormack - "Braveheart", "28 Weeks Later"), in London, Crawford travels to the south of France - a man with a mission.

There he meets up with Sophie, her supportive mother (Marcia Gay Harden) and the rich Catledge family, who have fallen hook line and sinker for the young psychic's charms. This is particularly true of the younger son, the awful Ukulele-strumming crooner Brice (Hamish Linklater) who is already madly in love with her and intent on marriage. As a fully independent test, Crawford drives Sophie to visit his Aunt Vanessa (Eileen Atkins) in Provence and cannot believe what he sees and hears, becoming convinced - against all his normal instincts and beliefs - that Sophie is the 'real thing'.

Is Sophie actually the genuine article, and if not then how on earth is she tricking not one but two expert magicians? Can she possibly reject the millionaire Brice and walk off into the sunset with the spiky and unpleasant Crawford? All is revealed over a stress-free and untaxing 97 minutes.

After the joys of last year's "Blue Jasmine", Magic in the Moonlight is a much more back-pedalling sort of affair for Woody Allen. It comes across as extremely theatrical in nature, feeling more like it was written for the stage rather than the screen: you can almost hear the stage hands shifting props between some of the scenes.

I'm a fan of Colin Firth, but I'm afraid he rather over-eggs the acting pudding in this. The particularly obnoxious Charlie of the first half of the film is about 20% over-cooked for me, and a long way from his Oscar-winning performance in "The King's Speech", although the performance improves towards the end as his character thaws a bit into more 'Firth-friendly' territory.

Emma Stone is, as always, delightful. A wise woman (my wife!) commented that in 20 years Stone will "be the new Meryl Streep", and I would agree. A quality actress with a wide range that feels like it hasn't been fully tapped yet.

But the performance of the film for me was Aileen Atkins as Aunt Vanessa, who is just marvellous in every scene she appears in, particularly the two-hander with Firth in the final reel. An actress with 50 years of hard-won experience in TV acting behind her and every hour of that experience up on the screen. I doubt she'd get it, but it would be lovely to see a Best Supporting Actress nod for her for this role.

The scenery is stunningly photographed by Darius Khondji, although one scene really puzzled me: at the first meeting of Charlie and Sophie the shot is almost directly into the sun, with a character's parasol sometimes (but not always) blocking the sun out and delivering more lens flare, albeit genuine lens flare, than a JJ Abrams movie. I'm not sure why this was done this way, but it just came across as amateurish and irritating.

The soundtrack is taken from jaunty jazz staples of the era which work well for most of the time but are at times jarring and ill-suited.

In summary, not a classic Woody Allen but a very pleasant and lightly humorous film that older audiences in particular will enjoy. If you liked "The 100 Foot Journey", you'll probably enjoy this too.

(If you enjoyed this review please see my archive of other reviews at bob-the-movie-man.com. Thanks).

It's a simple yet endearing story, both hilarious and thought-provoking. The premise, of an acclaimed magician out to prove that a particular young psychic is a phony, may seem too simple or familiar, but the period setting, the acting, and the dialogues make the movie quite delightful. This well-written debate between atheism and the existence of a higher power, rational vs irrational thinking, and the mindset and level of happiness of a person in each of those cases, was fascinating and enjoyable to witness. The mystery is maintained quite well. Then, it goes on to discuss one form of magic which truly exists among us (I don't want to spoil it), which was quite heartwarming.

The acting by everyone involved is commendable, especially Colin Firth; it's good to see him in a proper comedy after so long. I love the scene where he reacts in a certain way after the young psychic Sophie reveals few things about his aunt's past; it was rib-tickling and heartwarming at the same time. Emma Stone is charming as always.

From afar, it might seem like a simple comedy, but if you take a closer look, the themes it explores are actually quite deep and intriguing; those things govern the life and mindset of most people around the world.

Beginning to end, I wasn't bored for a second. I had a smile on my face all the way through. If one is able to grasp the meaning behind this comedy's themes, they just can't deny Woody Allen's genius. He rarely fails to amaze me.

A romantic comedy about an Englishman brought in to the help unmask a possible swindle. Personal and professional complications ensue.

Magic in the Moonlight is a film directed by Woody Allen and stars Emma Stone and Colin Firth. It is obviously a romance. I'm not entirely convinced by woody Allen since there are years he'll hit you with movies like Match Point or Midnight in Paris and then, years when you'll get You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger or Scoop. Nonetheless, this movie throw two very talented actors, in the middle of a quite boring story. In fact there is no tension until ten minutes left of the movie. As usual there are moments where the writing is very clever and seems fresh but they don't overcome the cliché moments though. this film fits perfectly the build of standard romantic comedy structure: guy meets girl, they do not get along very well at first as they're opposing, then they start to like each other and suddenly problems happen. In this case nothing really happens, I mean nothing really unpredictable. Colin Firth is very good as this very rude, very mean and hard to live with character. Plus, Emma Stone is really charming, lovely and beautiful; she is also very good.

Overall Magic in the Moonlight as whole is watchable but very conventional; that I could see where the film was headed from the beginning. I am a little bit disappointed because everybody know that Woody Allen is a really talented writer.

Stanley (Colin Firth) is a famous magician in the Roaring Twenties Europe. He performs in a Chinese costume, the rage at the time. Yes, he is great. But, he is a little dictator to the rest of his crew, spewing out orders right and left. One day, an old friend, Howard (Simon McBurney), also a magician but not quite as well known, comes for a visit. Its more than a friendly chat. Howard brings word about a young medium named Sophie (Emma Stone) who he, Howard, believes is hoodwinking a wealthy family who lives in the south of France. However, Howard has seen her in action and CANNOT discover her secret. Could Stanley come and investigate? Ho ho, indeed he can, for in addition to magical tricks, our Stanley loves unmasking frauds who claim to have paranormal powers when everyone KNOWS there is no such thing. There is no spirit world, no afterlife, no ghosts, etc. That's what Stanley firmly believes and he has ripped off the disguise of many a huckster. So, to France the two go. Yet, Stanley is about to face a formidable foe. He finds Sophie beautiful, intelligent, and gifted. In addition, after seeing her in action, Stanley is aghast to discover that he can't understand her talents either, especially after she tells him some of Stanley's family secrets. This man runs to the home of his nearby aunt (Eileen Atkins) and plots how to further the cast. Will Sophie be found to be, gulp, the genuine item? Is there a paranormal world? This lovely film has it all, my view. It has a great story, with many a memorable line. Allen is surely the best screenwriter of all eternity. Then, the actors are terrific. Firth and Stone are dazzling stars while McBurney, Marcia Gay Harden, Atkins, Jackie Weaver, and all of the rest give terrific support. Next, the scenery is the kind to put your eyes out while the costumes, cinematography, and lively direction make for a most enjoyable film. My only criticism is that Firth and Stone are too far apart in age to really be a romantic couple, especially with Stone made to look as young as possible. Nevermind, because its not really important. What's important is that YOU go see these magical film before the next moon rises.

I find all of woody allen flicks interesting. Always an interesting subject no matter how good bad ugly great the movie is. This new one is no exception.

MITM is a totally pleasant whimsical delight... the actors are charming especially Emma Stone and Eileen Atkins as Colin Firth's aunt.

The humor is very light... whimsy is a good term... is it funny? For me NO... but it's also not unfunny. It's just this one long smile.

The scenery is gorgeous.

The story is smart hidden in a cute jacket.

The age difference between the two is maybe a tad much but the rom in this romcom is not the leading factor... at least for most of it. Maybe a Colin Firth from 15 years ago would have been a better lead but unless Woody has access to that time travel device in Midnight In Paris that was not an option.

As with some other Allen films there is a turn in direction at some point. Won't give anything away. Your enjoyment of the movie might hinge on how you feel after it goes after this point.

For me it may have lingered around too long towards the end.

Firth is good and likable but I did find some of his character's decisions to be too abrupt. But maybe that's just me. And some of his duologue felt a bit rushed and acted.

I wouldn't personally rank this as one of his recent greats like Paris, Jasmine, Match Point or VCB... but it's a fun summery concoction of scenery, whimsy and costumes.