Actors Save a Stumble
Magic in the Moonlight is one of Woody Allen’s one joke movies.
Typically, he presents a premise and then explores it in exhaustive detail – a
process that with any other practitioner might doom a film. But because actors
love to work with him, Allen is able to cast his movies with a rich blend of
talent and eccentricity that makes even a pale joke dance.
The joke: In
an enticing opening, Stanley (Colin Firth) stands before a large audience
disguised as the magician Wei Ling-Soo. After thrilling the audience with his
tricks, he returns to his dressing room to strip off both his wig and his Asian
personality. Old friend Howard (Simon McBurney) arrives with an invitation: Come
with me to France and help me expose a fraudulent psychic who is making idiots
of my rich friends from Pittsburgh. Howard has tried, but the psychic, he
reports, is so good that he can’t expose her. Only an artist like Stanley is up
to this job.
What follows
is a house party of sorts set against a landscape and soundtrack that is classic
Woody Allen wonderful. Mrs. Baker (Marcia Gay Harden) is there with her psychic
daughter Sophie (Emma Stone), about to receive the gift of financing for their
new institute from Pittsburgh matron Grace (Jacki Weaver) and her son Bryce
(Hamish Linklater). Grace believes in Sophie completely, while her son Bryce
loves her on first sight.
To get
negative for a moment, it is also typical of Allen to mount a wonderful scene of
the sappy, dull witted Bryce serenading Sophie with a badly played ukulele only
to undercut himself by repeating the same good setup several times.
The movie
belongs to Colin Firth and Emma Stone with a marvelous assist from Eileen Atkins
as Stanley’s aunt. Atkins can say more with an intentional silence than anyone
else with a paragraph of lines. Colin Firth is completely charming as the
magician who knows a fraud when he sees one except for the lovely young question
mark he falls for. His earnest tirades on reality vs illusion are delicious.
Emma Stone is
funny and winning as she plays Sophie’s duplicity for the benefit of the weekend
gathering. It’s hard to believe, as Stanley does with all his rational analysis,
that Sophie is a fraud. With resolution at hand, we are treated to Eileen
Atkins’ crucial input. With these three actors, reality be damned.
On the
downside, the Stone/Firth chemistry dims in the face of a nearly thirty year age
difference. It’s perfectly reasonable to think 23 year old Emma Stone might be
just a little overwhelmed by playing the romantic interest of England’s grand
leading man. And sadly, the one joke storyline wears thin. Is this enough to
keep you away? Of course not. Who wants to miss Woody Allen’s annual offering?
The remarkable truth is that even when he trips, his movies are magnets for
anyone who loves wit and originality.
Film Critic : JOAN ELLIS
Film Title : Magic in the Moonlight
Distributor : Sony Pictures Classics
Running Time : 1:37
Word Count : 498
Rating : PG-13
Copyright (c) Illusion