Woody Allen is back with Magic in the Moonlight

Magic in the moonlight is Woody Allen’s new romantic comedy movie. The cast includes actors like Emma Stone, Colin Firth, Hamish Linklater, Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Erica Leerhsen. The movie is set on the French Riviera on the 1920’s.

The plot of the movie is very simple. The film starts in Berlin, showing the performance of a magician called Wei Ling Soo. Backstage, after taking off his cap, we find out that the magician is in fact an Englishman, Stanley Crawford, interpreted by Colin Firth. Stanley finds out from a friend that a young American girl thinks of herself as a clairvoyant and he is trying to unmask her and show her as a fraud. And so, Stanley is going after Sophie Baker, the clairvoyant, who is staying with a wealthy family at the Cote d’Azur. The movie has some very well shot images of luxuriant gardens, fancy cars, glamorous interiors and the credits go to cinematographer Darius Khondji. Magic in the Moonlight is definitely reflecting Allen’s nostalgia for the jazz age.

Colin Firth and Emma Stone joined the cast April 2013 and Woody Allen began shooting the movie in July, on the French Riviera. Magic in the Moonlight received varied reviews, rating 51% on Rotten Tomatoes and managed to score 54 out of 100 on Metacritic. Critics tend to say the movie is too light, in comparison to Woody Allen’s older movies, such as ‘Manhattan’ or ‘Annie Hall’. Some of the critics praised Colin Firth’s acting and stated that the picture is not that obvious as other movies directed by Allen, but it definitely deserves the public’s attention and respect. Some of the other critics didn’t approve Emma Stone’s acting, saying that she was too modern to fit in that period and actually convince us of her character. It was also said that the movie is much like Allen’s previous pictures and was totally unimaginative.

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