Magic in the Moonlight

The unstoppable Woody Allen has whipped up yet another delight, and this one could be his loveliest-looking yet. 

Starring Oscar-winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man) and Emma Stone (The Help, The Amazing Spiderman), comedy Magic In the Moonlight is set in the 1920s and follows celebrated stage magician Wee Ling Soo, real name Stanley, as he is given the task of exposing American ‘Spirit Medium’ Sophie Baker.

Continuing his dalliance with faded European grandeur, Allen takes us to the glittering, tobacco-stained French Riviera, where the clairvoyant has duped a rich American family (or has she?). As Stanley begins to fall under the spell of the enchanting Barker he is forced into questioning his own theories on the ‘dull reality of life,’ instead wondering whether there could be some magic in the world, after all.  

Before he took to film-making, writer-director Allen aimed to become a magician himself, and this is not his first foray into the world of magic (Scoop (2006) and You will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) come to mind). 

For this, his 47th film, Allen has partnered up again with cinematographer Darius Khondji, with whom he worked on fantasy-romance Midnight in Paris. Shot on 35-mm, and with the aid of a 1920s French Riviera setting, the film is simply exquisite to look at. 

It may not have the depth of last year’s Blue Jasmine, or the belly-laugh humour of many of Allen’s films, but Magic in the Moonlight looks set to be a charming film, perfect for whiling away a September evening.