Magic in the Moonlight

Woody Allen's inconsistency dogs him again as Magic in the Moonlight won't trouble the Academy come Oscar night but for sheer likeability this 1920s-set romantic drama is worth seeing.

Colin Firth plays a magician who dabbles in debunking fraudulent psychics and mediums but the sceptic is intrigued to hear that a fellow conjuror (Simon McBurney) was flummoxed by Emma Stone's spiritualist, currently hosting séances with the privileged in the south of France. Arriving incognito to throw Stone off, the all-too-rational Firth is surprised when Stone reveals private details about his life and slowly the American begins to chip away at the Englishman's cynicism...

Allen wrote himself into a corner with this one. With a set up like that there are really only two ways to go: Stone is either on the level or she's a fake. The intrigue is what will Allen bring to that, what twist will the master have? Not much, disappointedly, as the reveal is a bit of a damp squib. But while the entire enterprise has a certain inevitability it's thanks to Firth and Stone, and Allen's witty script, that keep developments fun as the predictable ending looms closer.

Firth has to deal with a one-note character: his crotchety prima donna is so forthright, so adamant that he's correct, it's only a matter of time before he's taken down a peg. The blustery Firth uses the lines like bulldozers, flattening anything and everything in his path; when he's on screen and blowing hard he's all that is seen and heard. Until Ms. Stone that is. That easy going naturalness persona might be a touch out of place in 1920s France but Stone glides about being lovely. At one point there's a discussion about Stone's 'agreeable' features and what light suits her best. The truth is she's luminous throughout.

But looking past the fun and the frolics and there is something darker to be found. Allen is 79 this year and, never one to shy away from the inevitability of death and its inky blackness when a younger man, Magic in the Moonlight feels like an elderly gentleman pondering the possibility of a wasted secular life. Because if Stone is the real deal and there is an afterlife, that means there's design to the universe and that God exists. And if God exists that means a rethink with regards to life decisions and belief system and there just isn't time.

Charming and funny, the film doesn't have the ending the story deserves.