Magic In The Moonlight (2014)

In 1928, an internationally famous magician and cynic (Colin Firth) is asked by his childhood friend (Simon McBurney, FRIENDS WITH MONEY) to help expose a fake medium (Emma Stone). But on the French Riviera, he finds himself falling under her spell and reevaluating his misanthropic lifestyle. Woody Allen's latest film is a congenial piece of piffle but ultimately inconsequential. It's the kind of film that's pleasant enough while you're watching it but fades from memory within hours of leaving the theater. The first third is the best and has promise but then one quickly realizes that it's not going anywhere and the disappointment sets in. Allen has painted himself in a corner so that there is nowhere to go! Darius Khondji's (THE IMMIGRANT) lensing of the South of France is lush, Sonia Grande's period costumes are perfection, Emma Stone is adorable but the laughs are sporadic. Slight as it is, I found it preferable to Allen's horribly overpraised BLUE JASMINE. With Marcia Gay Harden, Eileen Atkins, Jacki Weaver, Catherine McCormack, Hamish Linklater and Ute Lemper.