Inadvands
Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess
ChicRawIdol
A brilliant film that helped define a genre
Aedonerre
I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.
jbabauzit
The main character is similar to the one in "Whatever works", pessimistic and know-it-all ; he too reluctantly falls for a younger and less learned woman, which helps him see things under a different perspective. The girl happens to look quite like young Mia FarrowWoody Allen preferred to revisit this story as a period piece (the one of Gatsby) and in France where he seems to prefer to work recently. Happy-ending happens, but not the same way as "Whatever works" - no fall involved in the final twist...I personally prefer "Whatever works", due to richer intrigue and characters (and to Ms Wood...) ; however, this one's philosophic message (how to be optimistic...) is more developed
telegrafic
Most Woody Allen films tend to be an extension of Woody Allen personality -or should I say the way he would like his personality to be- and this one is not an exception: you do actually are not watching Colin Firth playing the role of a magician but Woody Allen's alter ego playing Colin Firth playing a magician, so anything new under the sun. The best thing about this movie are its locations, music and general wrapping overall. The rest is always the same so you will enjoy it if you like Allen's movies and you will dislike it if you don't. I think mr. Firth was wrong by choosing this film. He appears not only miscast (although we plays his role properly) but also insipid and bland.
grantss
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.
nicknealuseche
Colin Firth, Emma Stone acting with Woody Allen directing, what could go wrong? Well, the answer is almost everything. The dialogue was slow an unrealistic, and the acting wooden from the start, the plot frankly stupid. It seemed that Firth was just going through the motions as a hansom but cantankerous romantic lead, completely unbelievable and Emma Stone was completely miscast as the female lead. To be fair to both actors they were not helped by the stodgy script. You felt that this could have been made to work but it needed an injection of pace and better drawn characters. Firth plays a magician, because he uses tricks to perform he believes that there is no such thing as real magic or mysticism. He gets asked by a friend to debunk a mystic but then gets fooled into believing she really is a mystic. The problem I had with that was the ease with which he is fooled, with only a few demonstrations of the mystics abilities. Surely a real skeptic about mysticism would not be so easily swayed. The Firth Character is also written as a very one dimensional character who only believes in science which makes you ask the question, what is he doing performing magic in public if he is entirely rational. The problem with the Emma Stone character was simply that she was not believable as a mystic, she showed no showmanship at all, and therefore you believed her to be a very nice person but certainly not a performer of mystical acts. The supporting cast were similarly dire. Towards the end of the film I really lost interest in all the characters as there seemed no psychological depth to any of them. A very silly film and a waste of 90 minutes of my life.
