Cine Me

 

 

Magic in the Moonlight

 

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2870756/

 

 

http://www.sonyclassics.com/magicinthemoonlight/

 

 

Let others decide if film is an art. For Woody Allen, filmmaking is a reflex. Since 1969's Take the Money and Run, he has written and directed a movie damn near every year, screw fickle critics, public scandal and the Hollywood rule of dumb. At 78, Allen shows no sign of slowing down. Not every Allen film reaches the heights that extend from Annie Hall, Manhattan and Hannah and Her Sisters to Crimes and Misdemeanors, Midnight in Paris and Blue Jasmine. But each bears the unique stamp of a virtuoso who sees the world, sweet and lowdown, like no one else.

 

The actors, including Eileen Atkins, whose wit is martinidry as Stanley's Aunt Vanessa, are a pleasure to be around. But the film depends on discerning a spark between Sophie and the older Stanley. Luckily, Firth and Stone make a magnetic pair of opposites. Stone, free from all the Spider-Man nonsense, lights up the screen. And Firth is wonderfully appealing when he finally lets loose with the feelings Stanley has locked inside. Taking shelter from a storm in an abandoned observatory, Sophie and Stanley regard the stars, seductive to her, menacing to him. That's Allen for you, searching for a refuge from the dull reality of life that can't be deconstructed as a trick. Is love the answer? Or is love too volatile to trust? Melancholy and doubt may seem like gloomy qualities to blend into an amorous romp. But that shot of gravity is what makes Magic in the Moonlight memorable and distinctively Woody Allen.