Every Wednesday, FM writers Simon Columb and Brogan Morris write two short reviews on Woody Allen films … in the hope of watching all his films over the course of roughly 49 weeks. If you have been watching Woody’s films and want to join in, feel free to comment with short reviews yourself! Next up is Magic in the Moonlight and Bananas…
Simon Columb on Magic in the Moonlight…
Woody Allen returns with his annual treat. Magic in the Moonlight imagines a stuck-up, pompous magician (Colin Firth), trying to debunk a psychic (Emma Stone). Unfortunately, a clear plot is muddled by irrelevant romance that only serves to illustrate the distaste towards Allen’s oeuvre. Firth is considerably older than Stone and their romance is forced from the outset. Supporting actors are underused and dull (except for Hamish Linklater’s serenading fool Brice, whose dreary voice perfectly personifies the desperate lover). Woody Allen has asked the question of faith many times before, and a scene whereby Firth prays to God is a memorable highlight. As always, it’s refreshing to hear Woody Allen’s cultured dialogue and refined choice of music on the cinema-screen. But upon the resolution to the central theme, the film loses its steam. A final fifteen minutes stretches the story too long and what could’ve been acceptable becomes gratuitous tosh.
Brogan Morris on Bananas…
Bananas isn’t a sophisticated movie; like other early Woody Allen, it’s an excuse to air Allen’s sketches on film, this time using the unwitting Allen character’s part in a revolutionary plot on a South American banana republic to spin out the gags. The best moments actually come with Allen off-sceen – here, the young comedian gives himself too much space, indulging in heavy improvisation (see: the breakup scene that Judd Apatow would think excessive). It’s the work of a nascent filmmaker as well as screen actor, with Allen not yet awoken as a photographic aesthete, but it’s not without its moments – the rapid one-liners haven’t all stood the test of time, but other jokes, notably the visual gags during the rebel training sequences, stand up well. You can also witness Allen succumbing to the lure of more narrative-based filmmaking in Bananas, almost as though he’s beginning to realise his true calling.
Brogan Morris – Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the young princes. Follow Brogan on Twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion.
Originally published October 8, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
