MOVIE REVIEWS - Magic in the Moonlight

THERE is magic and moonlight but considerably more insecurities and bluster in Woody Allen’s playful yet lightweight romantic comedy set on the sun-kissed 1920s French Riviera.
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Sep 2014, 15:28 BST
Emma Stone and Colin Firth in Magic in the MoonlightEmma Stone and Colin Firth in Magic in the Moonlight
Emma Stone and Colin Firth in Magic in the Moonlight

Magic in the Moonlight is a romantic comedy about an Englishman brought in to help unmask a possible swindle. Personal and professional complications ensue. The film is set in the south of France in the 1920s against a backdrop of wealthy mansions, jazz joints and fashionable spots for the wealthy of the Jazz Age.

Allen affectionately evokes the era from the opening croon of the Cole Porter classic You Do Something To Me performed by Leo Reisman & His Orchestra, and the writer-director loads the soundtrack with upbeat jazzy tunes that telegraph the characters’ emotions like You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love) by Smith Ballew and His Piping Rock Orchestra to underscore a blossoming central romance.

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Regrettably, sparkling one-liners are in short supply on the Cote d’Azur and the on-screen chemistry between Colin Firth and Emma Stone is lukewarm, never threatening to set our pulse racing like her smouldering pairings with Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid, Love or real-life beau Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man.

Magic In The Moonlight is a valentine to Allen’s lifelong fascination with illusions.

My rating 6.5/10

Check your local cinema for showtimes.

Related topics:OrchestraEnglishmanFrance