Charm isn’t quite enough to get this film over the line, though Woody Allen’s latest effort is overflowing with aesthetic appeal. Factor in the always-endearing Emma Stone, and you’re amused if nothing else.
Set in 1920s southern France, Colin Firth is Stanley, a cynical magician asked to expose Sophie (Stone), who calls herself a medium. She’s living with a wealthy family, the heir of which, Brice (Hamish Linklater), has become enamoured with her, expressing it in frequently hilarious ukulele serenades. Stanley’s investigation of Sophie’s powers turns into enchantment, causing him to question his world-weary atheism.
The story does an admirable job of keeping a curious air of uncertainty, like a who-dun-it without the murder. That’s owed to the subtlety in Stone and Firth’s endlessly shifting dynamic of teacher and student. The stunning landscapes are continued proof that Allen’s escape to European settings in recent years is based on pure visual love.
The undoing of the film comes in Allen’s neurotic voice permeating the dialogue, to the point that it dissolves into every person trying to out-clever the next, and the muddled characterisations cancel out any surprises. For all its fast talk of Nietzsche and the afterlife, there’s a disappointing lack of depth.
