borromeot I saw another Woody Allen film, "Wonder Wheel" just the other day. I was overwhelmed by Kate Winslet's performance even if the film is not one of Allen's best, Kate Winslet makes it a must so I started searching for other Woody Allen films that I may have missed. Magic in the Moonlight (2014) I didn't even know this movie existed and it has Colin Firth in the lead. Colin Firth has been a favorite actor of mine since Apartment Zero (1988) and Emma Stone won the Oscar last year. I organized my evening to enjoy every minute of this unexpected treat. Well. the film looks wonderful and it has Eileen Atkins in it but the romantic aspect of the tale left me completely cold. Emma Stone projects discomfort more than anything else and Colin Firth performs as if he was on a stage. Every line is recited and their chemistry is also acted. By not believing in them the entire film felt like a plodding attempt at something that never materializes. Maybe next time.

rajmorgan-09657 Sophie , challenges his rationality while bringing out the romantic side of him without his own awareness. The twists and turns are extremely logical and pleasant to watch as designed by Woody Allen's script and unbelievably delivered by these two great actors. It is almost like a suspense story and we are sucked in right from the beginning to follow the cast and explore together. Emma Stone shines with her charming eyes and smiles while Colin Firth reminds us of a young and babbling Woody Allen. As Sophie, Stanley and even Woody Allen make a living creating illusions, perhaps we are all living in a self-inflicted reality to help us get through life. But what's wrong with it if it enhances our senses, making us appreciate life and be happy? Maybe we do not really need to be so rational all the time. Let our body tell us what is happening (Stanley's tossing around at night). Just go with the flow and enjoy the ride that life throws at us.

patrick powell Oh dear, where to start? The plot, the acting, the direction, the dialogue, the characters? All of them are so utterly two-dimensional that quite soon watching Magic In The Moonlight becomes a chore. And whatever the film, whether comedy, tragedy, art-house, slapstick, watching it should never become a chore, whatever else it might be. And sadly as the man who came up with the plot, wrote the dialogue and directed the actors Woody Allen must take sole responsibility.I have seen several Woody Allen films, but too few to pass judgment on his career - as in whether or not he has lost his touch - but one thing I can suggest is that perhaps his films don't ever come alive if he isn't in them. Certainly he was in all the other films of his I've seen and none - though they are certainly from the earlier years of his career - dragged so limply as this Magic In The Moonlight.The plot: well, on paper it can neither be praised or damned. There's the old saying that it isn't the joke, but the way you tell it. So I'm quite prepared to accept that another director (perhaps one who isn't content to point his camera at stagey set pieces and have done with it - the only movement is a tracking shot, but that's it) might well have done something with what is otherwise a pedestrian plot.As for the acting, well, a the end of the day and with few exceptions actors are only as good as the direction they get and the material they have to work with. And here they are horribly short-changed. Wooden and stereotyped don't even begin to describe what we see. The same is true of the dialogue: to be blunt it is awful.Wit? There's none, though there are lines which I assume Allen thought might makes us chortle. In truth they are little more than a hack writer's pastiche of Oscar Wilde.I must confess that I am writing this halfway through watching the film, mainly to take a break from it. I shall go back to watching it - I shall, I promise - and perhaps somehow the whole sorry film will redeem itself. But I'm not holding my breath.Perhaps Allen has reached the stage where no producer dare tell him what he has written and how he is directing is mediocre. Well, if that's the case, I hope he reads this review. The whole thing is embarrassingly lame. There, Woody, I've said it. Sad, but true.

telegrafic Most Woody Allen films tend to be an extension of Woody Allen personality -or should I say the way he would like his personality to be- and this one is not an exception: you do actually are not watching Colin Firth playing the role of a magician but Woody Allen's alter ego playing Colin Firth playing a magician, so anything new under the sun. The best thing about this movie are its locations, music and general wrapping overall. The rest is always the same so you will enjoy it if you like Allen's movies and you will dislike it if you don't. I think mr. Firth was wrong by choosing this film. He appears not only miscast (although we plays his role properly) but also insipid and bland.