terrible... so disappointed.

Simply A Masterpiece

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Sophie , challenges his rationality while bringing out the romantic side of him without his own awareness. The twists and turns are extremely logical and pleasant to watch as designed by Woody Allen's script and unbelievably delivered by these two great actors. It is almost like a suspense story and we are sucked in right from the beginning to follow the cast and explore together. Emma Stone shines with her charming eyes and smiles while Colin Firth reminds us of a young and babbling Woody Allen. As Sophie, Stanley and even Woody Allen make a living creating illusions, perhaps we are all living in a self-inflicted reality to help us get through life. But what's wrong with it if it enhances our senses, making us appreciate life and be happy? Maybe we do not really need to be so rational all the time. Let our body tell us what is happening (Stanley's tossing around at night). Just go with the flow and enjoy the ride that life throws at us.

(Flash Review)This was a picturesque little movie that lightly touches a world- renowned magician who exposes fraudulent magicians and fortune tellers. He comes across on young woman who is very clever and needs to spend more time to figure out her illusions. If he can't figure her out, will he believe she is real and of course she is attractive so will a romance form? The story was OK but for me the climax was muted and the romantic angle a bit unbelievable. It was a visual pleasure and the illusions used were….nifty. Decent acting but the story was average and already slipping from memory.

This COULD have been a much better movie, easily.(Note: This review is a TOTAL SPOILER; I'm assuming you have already seen the movie and want to know whether you agree with me, or you don't care to avoid spoilers.)The scenery is crazy beautiful, and the first act is a nice setup. We know Stanley is going to fall for Sophie, and Howard is just the obsequious hand-wringer to put them together and then get out of the way. We just don't know how.The first act is great. I can't tell which characters are as they seem, and which ones are deceptive. The interplay between Stanley and Sophie is fun.But as soon as Sophie reveals she knew of Stanley's subterfuge -- which he did so that he could reveal HER subterfuge -- it begins to fall apart.After they visit Aunt Vanessa and she gets him to fall for the con, their borrowed roadster breaks down. After hours of fruitlessly attempting repairs, a downpour threatens to drench them both. They jump down a ravine and discover -- WHAT A LUCKY COINCIDENCE! -- they were next to an observatory that he visited more than once before. But he didn't recognize it before?Also, why is the observatory well-lit, fully powered, clean, and yet vacant? Whatever. I can let that go.Stanley is alone, facing a pretty, young, and totally dripping-wet woman who is putting his arm around her because she is chilled to the bone, and who just convinced him that she possessed actual clairvoyance. So he does what any man would naturally do.He takes a nap on a marble bench while she paces around. Yeah.He had to, because we needed a couple of hours for it to get dark AND for all the thunderclouds that had overcast the sky to vanish. When he awoke, Stanley opened the clamshell doors of the observatory. They happened to be standing precisely where they could see a beautiful, romantic crescent moon in a starry sky without moving a foot.There you go -- Magic in the Moonlight. Because … he's a magician? In moonlight?Except we find out that it wasn't romance. Later, she point-blank asks him, at a dance, whether he's ever thought of her "as a woman." He ruthlessly and coldly destroys the notion. Not even a hint of sympathy for her misunderstanding.I'm left thinking that he's gay, which would make this movie a LOT more interesting, or that he's playing a con of his own -- hunting the hunter, so to speak, which would also make it more interesting.But, no. I'm just going to cut to the chase. He does love her, we find out later. He's just an absolutely cold-blooded, egotistical jerk who only cares about himself. In fact, when he proposes to her, it's basically a suggestion to her that he will "let her" marry him, instead of the forgettable but incredibly wealthy puppy dog of a person who wants to give her everything in the world.What girl could resist a chance to run away from the lap of luxury and adoration in order to be with a guy who loves her enough to offer his lack of objection?There should have been plot twists around who conned who. Did she fool him? Did he fool her into thinking that she fooled him? Until the 3rd act, these seemed like possibilities.She did fool him. But he didn't discover he'd been fooled. He just abruptly decided that he was being fooled, during a monologue-y prayer for his Dear Aunt Vanessa.Not that it mattered. He decided that the same woman who helped torch his career with the Howard's assistance was the woman he would "let" marry him. The same woman who tricked him -- the ultimate skeptic -- into sincerely praying to God to save his Aunt Vanessa.Did he fool her into thinking that she fooled him? No, his only effort to fool her was in the first act -- a ham-handed job that she easily penetrated in the first act (even though we learned later that she already knew, thanks to snake-in-the-grass frenemy Howard). He just really sucks at dealing with love and romance, and would rather make her feel like an idiot than tell her that he might actually like her. Yeah, he's just helpless in his heart when it comes to her.And at the end of it all, do you know what's better than letting a filthy rich puppy dog give you anything you want for the rest of your life while he sings insipid songs at you? I'll tell you. It's being a 25-year-old world-wise professional con-artist woman who suddenly decides she's really, truly, totally in love with the 53- year-old curmudgeon she just finagled into throwing away his own spiritual awakening, who knows he can't trust her further than he can spit, and whose reputation and career she just trashed with the help of one his best friends. It's not that I think that May-December romances can't be fun to watch (not that I ever want one of my own -- I do not). Some Cary Grant movies are like that, and I enjoy them immensely. But they all have a lot more to offer in their characters and their stories than this movie had.This one had Woody Allen at the helm. That probably should have been enough of a warning.I really should have known better. Maybe I'll watch his earlier movies, but I'm done watching anything new from him.

Mediocre.Written and directed by Woody Allen. A magician/illusionist, Stanley (played by Colin Firth), is invited by a fellow magician to travel to the South of France. The reason for the trip is to investigate, and hopefully expose as a fraud, a woman, Sophie (played by Emma Stone), who is apparently psychic. He is fervently of the belief that psychics, clairvoyants etc can't exist - he's a man of science and rationality. Once he meets her, however, things get complicated...Started well. There is the usual Woody Allen lightness, warmth and offbeat humour. However, it is not exactly laugh-a-minute stuff. There is also an air of mystery about the whole thing - how does she know so much about people, could she really be psychic?However, the movie pretty quickly runs out of steam. The mystery disappears quite quickly and there are dull periods. Moreover, the movie becomes a romantic drama, and an overly schmaltzy, contrived and implausible one too. The implausibility is heightened by the age gap between the two characters.Not anywhere near Woody Allen's best.