Magic In The Moonlight

Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Colin Firth, Emma Stone,
The latest of Woody Allen’s movies falls in behind Midnight In Paris, both thematically and stylistically, and is all the better for it.

Colin Firth plays Stanley Crawford, a frosty but celebrated stage magician. He is lured to the glitzy Cote d’Azur between the wars to investigate glamorous, gifted clairvoyant Sophie (Stone, The Amazing Spiderman).

Sophie’s commercially canny mother (Marcia Gay Harden, Mona Lisa Smile) is apparently exploiting a gullible socialite (Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook) who is anxious to reach her late husband in the spirit world. But in his dogged efforts to unmask Sophie, Stanley of course falls for her.

Allen’s film slyly observes the conflicts that ensue, while revelling in lush period settings and the mannered wit and charm of the era.