And while Stanley is complaining most of the time, there’s a tint of playfulness that makes you smile when he’s around. In particular, the smitten Brice (Hamish Linklater) as the gorgeous puppy-in-love socialite who follows Sophie around with a ukulele and the delightful Mrs Catledge (Jacki Weaver) who lights up the screen with her enthusiasm for the supernatural. Apart from Stanley’s smugness (which gives the film it’s best lines of the script) – this time around it was like spending time with the most delightful group of people ever created. It was a much needed relief from Blue Jasmine and frankly a lot of Allen’s films where his characters are flawed to the point of being plain awful. As sometimes filmmakers are so desperate to push an agenda that swallows the film whole, it was nice to see these charismatic elements weren’t cast away into the shadows and had it’s moment to shine.Īnother thing about Magic in the Moonlight I appreciated was that everyone was just so damn charming.
There’s a scene where the gullible son Brice is serenading Sophie on a balcony and you can almost taste the crisp ocean spray, feel the sun melt on your skin and the wind push your hair around.
Obviously this is a Woody Allen film and although Allen is clearly present (while perhaps on this occasion, sipping lemonade under a tree) I really enjoyed the craftsmanship that came together to make this movie an idyllic spoonful of cinema delight. The cinematography, set and costume design have made this film feel so ethereal and very enjoyable. The most magical element of Magic In The Moonlight is the ‘in-the-flesh’ experience of a dreamy, sun-dipped holiday that you have just stepped into. With every film he creates, you start looking eagerly for his best repeated steps, his morbid fascination with death, his nervousness dressed up in beige slacks and a blue shirt, his psychoanalytic despair and now more than ever, his time spent on a European holiday – sending us love letters back from his favourite spots. It’s typical Allen and the familiarity is just as welcoming and wonderful as ever. The moment the movie begins, the black cards and the impressive cast in alphabetical order start tapping along happily next to the jazz soundtrack, I start to smile. Set in the 1920’s – the film centers on Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth) – a rational and scientific magician who is called upon to debunk the talents of psychic medium Sophie (Emma Stone) ‘a visionary and a vision’ who has managed to have the mother and son of the wealthy Catledge family cast under her spell. The next installment of his trip around Europe sees Woody Allen and his star filled cast in the south of France – lazing around pools, manicured lawns and tennis courts in this gorgeous, easy to enjoy romantic comedy: Magic in the Moonlight.