If this looks like the poster of a bad romantic comedy, I have bad news.
There is no mystery about this being a Woody Allen film:
opening titles are nearly identical to the ones I saw at the beginning of Midnight in Paris, and given that both
films are set in France and deal with the fantastic almost makes Magic in the Moonlight a companion piece
to Allen’s 2011 work. In a way, Magic is
a love letter to the French Riviera as many shots focus on the view of the sea
from the verdant countryside. This will please the Francophile, but I did not fall
in love with the shots. In the end, Magic
in the Moonlight ends up an inferior iteration in Allen’s film catalog.
An ideal critic will no doubt cast this film in the context
of Allen’s career as a whole; unfortunately, I can’t really do that. There are
only three Woody Allen films that I’ve seen in their entireties: Annie Hall, Midnight in Paris, and Magic
in the Moonlight. Ranking them in such a small selection is meritless since
it ignores a nearly fifty years in filmmaking. And yet, I can’t help but put Magic against the other two. Annie Hall is the beloved masterpiece, Midnight is the work that reinforces
audiences’ confidence in Allen’s abilities in his later years, but Magic seems to reveal a moment of weakness.
Magic is
well-acted, especially with the two leads, Colin Firth and Emma Stone. Firth’s
ardent skeptic Stanley plays inquisitor for Stone’s young mystic Sophie. Despite
their fine performances, the chemistry between their characters feels forced in
that Sophie seems to fall for the grumpy Stanley all too easily. It was as if Allen
wanted us to find Stanley more charming than he truly comes across. What makes
it even more infuriating is that Stanley is assuredly the Allen stand-in,
giving the character a sort of Gary Stu problem in that he’s super intelligent
and has a strange yet strong animal magnetism that draws in the young and naïve
Sophie. Thankfully, Stanley is not depicted in such a way that he’s perfect in
every aspect, but his negative qualities almost seem as they’re supposed to be
overlooked.
I found myself restless throughout many moments
in the movie, which is a rare thing. There’s some tension about whether or not
Sophie’s truly a psychic, but never was I captivated by scenery or
performances, instead wondering what would make this more than a whodunit with
a love story. But it’s a bad whodunit with a weak love story. Amusing at times,
but never once enthralling.
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