Sony Pictures Classics
Woody Allen has a very discernible style, one that often revolves around either an obvious stand-in (himself, Owen Wilson, Alec Baldwin) or an obvious object of lust and admiration. Or the latest Hollywood young thing, a beauty with talent. You had Mira Sorvino back in the 90’s with Mighty Aphrodite, and then a few with Scarlett Johansson (Match Point, Scoop, Vicky Christina Barcelona) although he never really seemed to know quite what do with her. Match Point came out in 2005, two years after she was brilliant in Lost in Translation, but he never really got her like, say, Joss Whedon does. After that, he stayed away from the ingenue thing for a while and had his first truly excellent movie in years with Midnight in Paris. Then not much, although Blue Jasmine was alright. Finally that brings us to Magic in the Moonlight, with the new girl on his mind.
The movie is a showcase for how easy it is to fall for Emma Stone. tweet
Magic in the Moonlight is written and directed by Woody Allen and stars Colin Firth as Stanley Crawford, an early 20th century illusionist and kind of a jerk. After a show one day, he is approached by old friend Howard (Simon McBurney) who needs Stanley-Colin’s help. It seems that some American friends of his have been “tricked” by apparently mystic Sophie (Emma Stone). Naturally the young son Brice (Hamish Linklater) is besotted with the wide eyed lass, so there’s a bit of a worry about tomfoolery. Of course, Colin-Stanley agrees to help reveal the secrets behind Emma Stone/Sophie’s near mystical appeal/talent. If you think I’m being weird with mixing the names, good. Emma Stone is the newest target of Woody Allen’s interest, his new muse of sorts. In a way, the movie is a showcase for how easy it is to fall for Emma Stone.
She’s endlessly likeable here, despite the mystery about magic or lying, and say, isn’t acting often compared to lying in a way? Well, just a thought anyway.
Colin Firth is very Colin Firth-y here, which means he’s good, but his character is bleh. I didn’t buy the connection between Sophie and Stanley, which means I didn’t buy their love story either. Stanley is conflicted because he can’t seem to disprove Sophie’s seemingly magical abilities as trickery, but why should Sophie be interested in Stanley? Because he looks like Colin Firth? Kind of a boring reason. After seeing how atypical he was in Kingsman, this “boring” version of Colin Firth was far too uninteresting for me. Sure, there are some beautiful bits of scenery and vibrant colors, a lot of clever directing tricks and a few funny lines. But it’s also flat and very average.
Emma Stone is great, although she seems out of place in the particular time period. To me, she has a more modern sensibility and personality, which contrasts with the old world affectations of Colin Firth. The love story is also troubling, and although the age gap of 28 years isn’t out of the question, especially given the time setting, it’s also off putting given Woody Allen’s history. Once again, he’s given a more handsome person some of his own character traits and paired them up with a much younger girl, which has become really tiresome.
All this really means is that I’m concerned for Woody Allen’s next movie, Irrational Man, which also stars Emma Stone against Joaquin Phoenix, because it seems, once again, that Woody Allen doesn’t seem to know what to do with the amazing actors he gets.
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