--- title: Magic in the Moonlight Review: Woody Allen's Latest, With Emma Stone description: Colin Firth and Emma Stone play attractive opposites in Allen's latest comic diversion canonical: https://time.com/3023151/magic-in-the-moonlight-review-woody-allen/ author: Richard Corliss article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-23T14:11:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:01:01.760Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Magic in the Moonlight Review: Woody Allen's Latest, With Emma Stone og:description: Colin Firth and Emma Stone play attractive opposites in Allen's latest comic diversion og:url: https://time.com/3023151/magic-in-the-moonlight-review-woody-allen/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc039b3d981d81e40/69869cbd3bc99951351a4a45/1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3600 og:image:height: 2025 og:image:alt: Magic in the Moonlight og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Magic in the Moonlight Review: Woody Allen's Latest, With Emma Stone twitter:description: Colin Firth and Emma Stone play attractive opposites in Allen's latest comic diversion twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc039b3d981d81e40/69869cbd3bc99951351a4a45/1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # REVIEW: Woody Allen's _Magic in the Moonlight_: When Cynic Met Mystic > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: 10 Questions for Woody Allen [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Questions for Woody Allen](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mMtpeo9a.m3u8) (8:03)  _Published 2008-01-18. He's brilliant at portraying neurotics of all kinds. But the multitalented director swears he's actually quite normal._ by [Richard Corliss](https://time.com/author/richard-corliss/) ## Richard Corliss Jul 23, 2014 2:11 PM UTC  Jack English—© 2014 Gravier Productions, Inc by [Richard Corliss](https://time.com/author/richard-corliss/) ## Richard Corliss Jul 23, 2014 2:11 PM UTC No film character is riper for a take-down than the cynic with a sharp tongue, the nonbeliever whose only god is his own intellect. What other people search for — love, happiness, victory in the Hunger Games — he’s sure is a sham or a scam. This prideful man must fall, not because he’s wrong but because his world view goes against the central notion of movies: a technological conjuring trick that fools viewers into believing the impossible. The cynic calls himself a realist, but he is only fooling himself; his disillusion is his most desperate illusion. At heart he’s just an idealist who has lost his faith and needs redemption. He wants a sign: a lovely woman’s smile, or the sight of stars through the open roof of an observatory. Some magic in the moonlight, even. This week’s cynic is Stanley (Colin Firth), a renowned magician who performs in Chinese makeup under the name Wei Ling Su. On stage he creates trickery; off stage he exposes it, in a sideline job of debunking phonies who claim mystic powers, “from the séance table to the Vatican and beyond.” At the urging of his old friend and rival conjurer Howard (Simon McBurney), Stanley journeys to the South of France to debunk one Sophie Baker (Emma Stone), whose questionably psychic powers have beguiled a rich American (Jacki Weaver) and her son Brice (Hamish Link-later), a sweet, ukulele-strumming oaf who calls Sophie “a visionary and a vision.” For Stanley it will be a solemn duty to unmask the fraud, if such she is, and thus confirm his devout misanthropy. **(READ: Belinda Luscombe’s** [**10 Questions with Colin Firth**](http://time.com/66281/colin-firth-10-questions/)**)** Woody Allen could be the anti-Stanley: he can see through fakery but still loves the sly craft that created the illusion. That’s only natural: Allen performed magic tricks as a kid, and he’s spent nearly 50 years (since his screenplay for the 1965 _What’s New Pussycat_) in the con-art of movies. Many of the 44 features he has written and directed revel in deception, either criminal or emotional. His characters pretend to be what they’re not, taking down more gullible souls and often stealing their hearts. That’s the theme of _Magic in the Moonlight_, and the title cues viewers to which side of the debate Allen is on: some call it fraud, he says enchantment. A minor comic diversion about séances and illusions, the film stacks up as not great, not awful but _medium_ Woody. _Magic in the Moonlight_ marks the eighth leg of Allen’s European film tour, which began in England with the 2005 _Match Point_ (followed by _Scoop_, _Cassandra’s Dream_ and _You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger_) and expanded the itinerary to include Spain (_Vicky Cristina Barcelona_), Italy (_From Rome With Love_) and France (_Midnight in Paris_ and now this). The movie also sends the 78-year-old writer-director into the gilded past: to the Côte d’Azur in 1928, when the Corniche highways were still dirt roads and, apparently, the prices were so high that the French couldn’t afford to live there. The film’s main characters are all American and English — the idle rich and their guests — who populated _Tender Is the Night_, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s _Gatsby_ on the Riviera. **(READ: Corliss on** [**Baz Luhrmann’s** **_The Great Gatsby_**](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/05/09/luhrmanns-the-great-gatsby-from-jazz-age-to-baz-age/)**)** This is the fantasy, familiar in the Allen oeuvre, of an older man (Firth is 53) falling for a young woman (Stone is 25) who is not straitjacketed, as he is, by intellect. Or Stanley might be Allen’s take on Henry Higgins, from Shaw’s _Pygmalion_ and Lerner and Loewe’s _My Fair Lady_: a haughty bachelor who, to win a bet, gets involved with a girl he first has contempt for, then comes to appreciate. As Stanley all but tells his worldly Aunt Vanessa (Eileen Atkins) while musing about Sophie, he’s grown accustomed to her face. And who could not love Stone, of the ginormous eyes and husky voice? As a chic psychic chick in sailor dress and beret — or, after a rainstorm, looking like the most adorable soaked cat — she’s a girl any man would want. **(READ:** [**a love letter to Emma Stone**](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2020024,00.html)**)** Question is, who’d want Stanley? Though he strike a handsome figure in his three-piece vanilla suit, he fits his lifelong chum Howard’s description as “a genius with the charm of a typhus bug.” He’s a sour pill, incapable of uttering a single sentence without inserting some clause that insults the whole universe. Firth, working hard to suppress his patented bonhomie, gives the impression of having been force-fed the personality he’s supposed to inhabit. Like the downtrodden plutocrat played by Cate Blanchett in Allen’s _Blue Jasmine_, Stanley is a social miscreant — bad company for the other characters and a chore for the audience to engage with. **(READ: Corliss’s** [**review of** **_Blue Jasmine_**](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/07/25/blue-jasmine-a-woody-allen-woman-under-the-influence/)**)** Yet Stanley is presented as a potential mate for Sophie, as the perfect attractive opposite. The movie suggests that Stanley is the callow one, and Sophie the wiser, more mature soul, when he harrumphs, “We can’t go around deluding ourselves,” and she urgently replies, “But we _must_, to get through life!” At the end of a sojourn when everything has gone wrong, and this odd couple gazes up at the night sky, they and we are meant to feel the moonlight magic. Allen may not believe in mystics, but he does believe in the eternal truth of movie love. You can see the film as a Brooklyn boy’s dream of a vanished civilization — all swank frocks and lawn parties — that perhaps existed only in the buoyant films he loved as a child, and beyond. Firth and Stone channel that poise and appeal; they could easily slip into a Golden Age rich-boy–clever-girl romantic comedy like Preston Sturges’ _The Lady Eve_. And Allen gets points for trying to revive the glamour, wit and heart of classic Hollywood at a time when other filmmakers just want to duplicate last year’s superhero smash. But the script lacks brio; it needs someone — perhaps Sturges, or the young Woody Allen — to punch up the laugh lines. The audience is left hoping, like participants in one of Sophie’s séances, that a dead genre will somehow come alive in its full flower of wit and charm. It doesn’t, quite, except in its creator’s eyes. Which makes him the gullible party. This time, Woody Allen has fooled himself. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:08] You used to express a desire to read Moby Dick. Has [00:10] this wish been fulfilled? Yes, I read Moby Dick [00:15] [ COUGH ] while I was making the movie Love and [00:17] Death. I, I filmed in Budapest and when I came [00:21] back from work each night, there was absolutely [00:24] nothing to do in Budapest at the time when I was there, [00:28] it was a drab city, and the Russian Army occupied it. [00:31] So I would come back to my hotel, and read Moby [00:34] Dick. And and I finished it, started and finished it while [00:38] I was shooting Love and Death in Budapest and, and [00:41] liked it very, very much. But I never would've thought [00:45] I would've loved anything at all that remotely revolved [00:49] around whaling. [ LAUGH ] This is from Rohit Sang in [00:53] New York City. Mm- hm. I understand that you are [00:56] more of a musician than a singer. But when you are in [00:58] the shower, or in the car alone, or doing karaoke, what [01:02] one song do you like to just belt out? I can sing in the [01:05] shower, and my repertoire is limitless. And I can sing [01:10] anything in the shower and I, you know, I sing all [01:14] the jazz and pop tunes, all the Cole Porter tunes. And [01:19] my rendition of Easy To Love by Cole Porter is [01:22] probably as good one could hear, in [01:27] the shower. [ LAUGH ] Outside of the shower I start [01:31] to have some problems with reality. Speaking as a [01:35] young neurotic person, has being neurotic in life done [01:38] more good or more harm, in your experience? Well, it's [01:42] interesting, people tend to think that I'm neurotic. And [01:46] this I feel is a testimony to my acting ability. Over [01:50] the years I've played the neurotic and I've played [01:54] it so well I think. It's I'm not a good actor but that I can [01:59] do. And I played that one little thing that I can do well. [02:03] That is a neurotic character so effectively that people [02:07] tend to think I'm neurotic in my life. When in fact, the [02:10] truth of the matter is, if you looked at my entire life [02:13] you'd find that I, I'm not really very neurotic, I'm very [02:18] structured, normal. I have a wife now of ten years. I [02:22] have two kids that I'm devoted to. I have been very [02:26] productive my whole life. I don't sit around brooding [02:29] and contemplating suicide or getting high [02:33] or, or dissipating myself. I've been a very disciplined [02:36] worker. I have my jazz orchestra that I, requires [02:40] practice and discipline and I play with. I have my [02:43] writing and I've been able to do all these things on [02:48] an ongoing basis for years and, and a neurotic [02:51] personality would have trouble with that. So I think [02:54] that, that that I, I'm not neurotic, that I'm very middle [02:59] class blue collar. Beer drinking, [03:03] television, T- shirt jerk at home. [03:08] Not someone who's ensconced in Kierkegaard or [03:12] Spinoza and but my image is quite different cuz [03:17] of what I've played. Do you agree with Picasso's quote, [03:20] good artists copy, but great artists steal, and if so, who [03:23] have you stolen from? Oh, I've stolen from the best. I [03:26] mean, I've stolen from, from Bergman. [03:30] I've stolen from Groucho. I've stolen from Chaplin. I've [03:34] stolen from Keaton. From from Martha Graham. [03:39] From Fellini. I mean, I, I'm shameless thief. [03:45] At what point did you begin to note that the character [03:47] that you played in some of your films have become a [03:48] pop culture phenomenon, i. e ., that's such Woody [03:51] Allen dialogue? And does that flatter you or do you find [03:54] it annoying? No, I've never found it as the problem. If, [03:57] if, if you found it, you've found something that I've [04:01] never found. I, I've never felt and I don't say this with [04:04] any bitterness, or anger, or disappointment cuz it's not [04:08] something that I was interested in. I've never [04:11] influenced anybody, to the best of my knowledge, in [04:14] any way. So, when I see people making films, they [04:17] make them like Scorsese makes them, they make them [04:20] like Spielberg makes them, they make them like [04:23] Stanley Kubrick made them. I make my films for my [04:27] own enjoyment, my own therapy. I'm not familiar [04:32] with the phenomenon that the, the questioner is [04:34] posing. You don't think that the, the modern romantic [04:38] comedy, however poorly done it is, at least owes to [04:42] some degree to your invention in the 70s. The [04:45] relationship, sort of modern man and woman comedy. [04:48] If it is, I don't see it. I, I, didn't see anything [04:51] revolutionary about it at that time. So, so I, I don't. [04:56] Is there any possibility you could make another movie [04:59] with Diane Keaton. I've got them all. [ COUGH ] Yes [05:03] there would be. I mean, I wou -, you know, if there [05:05] was an idea for Keaton and me, or I had an [05:09] idea that would be great for her. She'd be the first [05:13] person that I would call. And we're very good friends [05:16] and we [ COUGH ] love to work together. There just [05:20] hasn't been anything that's occurred to me that would [05:23] be good for us, but, you know, would be a pleasure [05:27] to work with her again. We love to work with each [05:29] other. Sheila Levine, Simi Valley, California. How is [05:33] it that Woody Allen just gets better and better looking [05:35] the older he gets? Well, it's nice of her to say that. You [05:39] know, I probably started very bad, when I was [05:43] younger. And anything that happens is [05:49] registered as an improvement. You've worked with [05:51] everyone. But has anyone ever said, no thanks, I'll [05:54] pass? Many people have. There's a myth that all [05:59] I do is call up any actor or actress and they drop [06:01] whatever they're doing and work with me. Nothing [06:03] could be farther from the truth. I don't like to name [06:06] names here, but there've been actors and actresses [06:11] that have passed because the money was not enough. [06:14] Passed because they didn't like the script that I sent [06:17] them. So, I've, yes I have been turned down any [06:20] number of times. Now I've had a good many [06:23] acceptances. But it has certainly not been a perfect [06:27] record by any means. I never ever hold that against [06:32] anyone who, it never occurred to me to. I offered Sean [06:36] Penn three movies before he did Sweet and Lowdown. [06:41] I've offered other people, you know, that, I, I have no [06:45] problem with that at all. You could turn down my [06:47] movies, a dozen times and if I have a part that's good [06:50] for you, I'll always offer it to you and hope for the best. [06:53] Do you have a dream project, a script sitting [06:56] somewhere waiting to made, made into a film, just [06:58] waiting for the right producer or the right actor? No, I, I [07:01] don't, I mean, I, I finish a thing, that's why I said blue [07:04] collar before I finish a movie. And then I sit around for [07:07] a couple of days and, you know, and I think, what the [07:10] hell am I doing? You know, it's boring and I start [07:13] working on something else and I try and come up with [07:16] a new idea. What are those couple of days when you're [07:18] finished a project, actually like? I'm trying to figure out [07:22] what it is I'm supposed to be doing to enjoy myself [07:25] and unwind, having finished a project. So I finish a [07:28] project, let's say, on a Friday or a Monday. And, and I [07:32] go home and I think, well, this is great. I finished and [07:35] now I can, and then I can't complete the sentence. And [07:38] I, I think, well, what do I wanna do? Well, I wanna [07:42] practice my instrument. And I'd like to write. These are [07:45] the things I enjoy doing. So, you know, I kind of [07:50] hold it back for a day or two and go for a walk or, but [07:54] I, but very quickly I can't stand it and I get back into [07:58] writing. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3023151/magic-in-the-moonlight-review-woody-allen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3023151/magic-in-the-moonlight-review-woody-allen/"},"headline":"REVIEW: Woody Allen's Magic in the Moonlight: When Cynic Met Mystic","datePublished":"2014-07-23T14:11:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:01:01.760Z","description":"Colin Firth and Emma Stone play attractive opposites in Allen's latest comic diversion","url":"https://time.com/3023151/magic-in-the-moonlight-review-woody-allen/","keywords":["movies","woody allen","Emma Stone","Colin Firth"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc039b3d981d81e40/69869cbd3bc99951351a4a45/1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Richard Corliss","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/richard-corliss/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc039b3d981d81e40/69869cbd3bc99951351a4a45/1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Magic in the Moonlight","caption":"","creditText":"Jack English—© 2014 Gravier Productions, Inc","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3023151/magic-in-the-moonlight-review-woody-allen/","name":"REVIEW: Woody Allen's Magic in the Moonlight: When Cynic Met Mystic"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"10 Questions for Woody Allen","description":"He's brilliant at portraying neurotics of all kinds. 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