Magic in the Moonlight

Well after nearly fifty years of his career and nearly fifty films written & directed (quite an achievement on it's own), Woody Allen is still going strong with his latest film, the romantic period piece, Magic in the Moonlight

In 1928, Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth), the renowned illusionist, fraud de-bunker and supreme egotist is called upon by fellow performer and childhood friend Howard (Simon McBurney) to expose a spiritualist named Sophie (Emma Stone) who has won over a rich American family, the Catledges, on the French riviera, nearby to where his Aunt Vanessa lives. However, surrounded by loud-mouthed Americans whilst attempting to catch her in the act several times, Stanley faces a problem, he starts to believe that she could be the real thing.

The story, again written by Allen, is like most of his films both clever and hilarious, with genuine characters that draw you in. If I had any criticisms of it, it's that the characters views morph just a bit too readily, which can sometimes be a bit jarring. However you could argue that this is just Woody having a crack at the immutability of our beliefs.

Both Firth and Stone absolutely shine in their roles. Despite his callousness, pessimism and extreme ego, Stanley is actually quite a likable character, and supremely funny, both of which come down to Firths strong performance. Stone is both charismatic and believable as Sophie. The supporting cast are also very good in this, especially Marcia Gay Harden as Sophie's unwaveringly supportive mother and Eileen Atkins as Aunt Vanessa, whose sassy wit is a joy to hear.

I find with period pieces, especially those that are set in this era, that you can often tell that it's just a facade. Here though, this is not the case where a lot of passion and care has gone into the overall design. The late 20's really come to life with the accurate costumes, lavish sets and vintage cars, all of which blossom with colourful character off the screen. All of this is complemented by a well chosen mix of period music and classical pieces.

Judging by it's current reception, not everybody enjoyed this film as much as I did. But one of the brilliant things about movies is that they're only what each and every member of the audience makes of them, and I found this to be genuinely funny, impeccably directed and surprisingly touching in parts. I really enjoyed this one.