Movie Review - Magic in the Moonlight

Magic in the Moonlight

Starring: Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Eileen Atkins, Simon McBurney, Jacki Weaver, Erica Leerhsen, Jeremy Shamos, Hamish Linklater, Marcia Gay Harden, and more.

Directed by: Woody Allen, Written by: Woody Allen Cinematography by: Darius Khondji

Premise: A fellow magician asks Stanley, aka Wei Long Soo, to come with him to the south of France to help debunk a psychic who's ingratiated herself with a friend's family. Exposing fake mediums being one of his hobbies, Stanley agrees. Yet Sophie turns out to be very different from what he was expecting. And her powers seem to actually be the real thing - throwing his beliefs about life entirely topsy-turvy. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Colin Firth is delightful as the egotistical, genius, and magician, Stanley. He does a fabulous job of being the arrogant disbeliever while charming the audience at the same time. Emma Stone was a lot of fun as Sophie, who is the almost polar opposite of Stanley. Eileen Atkins as Aunt Vanessa gave as good as she got. It was a blast watching her steer her nephew along. Seeing Jackie Weaver again, as bubbly as ever, was an extra treat. Hamish Linklater just made you feel sad for poor, besotted, ukulele playing Brice.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: A lot of subtle effects - from the beginning with the amazing skills of Wei Long Soo, to the floating candle, or the fast moving lightning storm. The special effects department did some lovely work.

3) Plot/Story - Total Thumbs Up: I tend to have coincidences or 'runs' of similar things and this film landed in my current trend of things to stumble into in the form of both the 20's and magic. (Hubby and I had just this week watched the Houdini special on the History Channel as well as episodes of Poirot.) In many ways Stanley is a British Houdini - they even mentioned how he got his start as an escape artist. Another aspect related to Houdini was how he spent a lot of time after his mother's death seeking a true medium - and exposing all those who were fakes. Houdini's intent (and Stanley's secret hope) to find a real medium through whom he could contact his parent.

Wei Long Soo even did the disappearing elephant trick!

The film's story is pretty straight forward, but does have some lovely unexpected twists. It plays a lot with expectations and assumptions, even the blindness of narrow mindedness. But what makes the film a true treat is the witty repartee between Sophia, Stanley, and others as well as the giant verbal blunders by Stanley when speaking to Sophia. Watching the Aunt work her own brand of magic was also highly entertaining.

4) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: From the theater in Germany to the lovely gardens, and the coast of southern France, the locations definitely set the stage. By adding in all the great Jazz and 20's music, it was easy for the audience to be transported back to 1928.

Conclusion: "Magic in the Moonlight" is a nice, quirky romance with an odd but fun cast of characters. The verbal fencing, especially towards the end, made it very fun to watch.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy

Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy

Starring: Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Hurt, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, David Dencik, Ciaran Hinds, Kathy Burke, Tom Hardy, Amanda Fairbank-Hines, Simon McBurney, and more.

Directed by: Tomas Alfredson Screenplay by: Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan Based on the Novel by: John le Carre Original Music by: Alberto Iglesias

Premise: A forcibly retired spy in the 70's is asked for one more task after it appears that what had been thought of as the paranoid delusions of the previous head of British Intelligence about a mole in their ranks appears to be a possibility after the man's passing. (Rated R)

Review: This film is a slow puzzle being put together from floating pieces of yarn or random dots. The trick is to figure out which dot is the right one, the correct starting point you need to connect the line for the next one and then the next - the most innocuous of things actually are clues to the whole.

If you're sleepy or tired, that's not the time to see this movie. If you blink you might miss something important. Take a restroom break at your peril! Clues are everywhere, and some are incredibly subtle.

Tons of kudos to all the actors in this piece. A lot of information is gleamed from looks, a stumbled step, who finds what or not amusing. It was a lot of fun compiling all the information being provided to realize the motives and secrets laying about in the hunt for the mole.

The film might not satisfy younger tastes as it is full of seemingly random scenes and builds at a slow pace. The few sections of violence are brutal though also mostly implied. The hunt is mostly mental rather than physical, each piece leading towards the next.

What was truly lovely in the plot was a tandem mission within the mission. One that despite seeming to be irrelevant and nothing but a distraction, actually meant more than imagined when seen in the whole. There is a ton of subtext -  another reason why you dare not blink. And it was marvelously shared. The scene at the small airport towards the end was chucked full of subtext from the moment Toby entered the car with Peter. Lovely. You'll leave the film flashing on little nuggets and getting new insight all the way home.

Two items that I found super interesting was how the fired head of the Circus (British Intelligence) was only ever referred to as Control. He even signed his dispatches as 'C'. The other was you never see the face of Ann. Also was fun watching the route within HQ of the sensitive data. So many little touches!

This is a film about the rewards of long term loyalty, trust, honor, of the impacts we make on other peoples's lives which could have far reaching impacts even from a short, casual meeting.

As for the title - it is a reference to the nicknames given to those who might be the mole. So truly it is Tinker, Taylor, Soldier.

If you like puzzles and mental spy games, this is for you!

Rating: 4 out of  5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)