This marks the fourth year in a row that I have seen the annual Woody Allen feature in theaters and it would be a lie to say I'm not growing fond of the tradition. Of course, there is no telling how much longer this tradition might continue as the prolific writer/director is nearing seventy-nine and I can only imagine will continue to remain as consistent for so much longer. Allen continues to defy expectations though as he continues to both craft interesting enough stories for relevant actors to embody and piece them together in rapid fashion. It is hard to even pinpoint at what stage of life Allen first put the idea we're currently watching on screen to paper, but I can only imagine he has a drawer full of premises that he pulls from every year and crafts a screenplay around yet all the while is jotting down more ideas to add to the drawer. It will be interesting to see what he leaves us with as the next few features are likely to be some of his final ones, but if there is anything particularly telling about his latest it is that the guy isn't scared of getting old.
Magic in the Moonlight may be able to pull off seeming like a romantic comedy for intellectuals and even as the film slogs to its inevitable conclusion it seems Allen would have liked to convince himself of this as well, but really the film is simply another exercise for Allen, the writer, to voice his complaints about mortality, the mystical side of life and belief in a higher power. He does this with both vigorous and insightful dialogue that is conveyed through what is at least an inventive situation. It also doesn't hurt he has placed the film in what we perceive as a more innocent period of time (1928) to soften the blow of his logical observations and make them feel more farcical than forceful. I am one who doesn't mind the arrogant, slightly egotistical nature of Allen especially when it has been imbued upon as charming an actor as Colin Firth and there truly is, as is typically the case, some finely-crafted dialogue here that cuts to the heart of the conflict our central character feels, but as a film in and of itself
Magic in the Moonlight feels more minor than the significance of its ideas.
