When the Cheshire emerges...

THE MAGIC and mystique behind love and how humans come to have such feeling has been long explored by Woody Allen. While his films range dramatically in the form his central characters take, his creations predominantly deal with the mishaps and other dramas love brings to their lives. For his latest offering we're taken back to the 1920s, a time when the world was becoming that little bit more liberated. With that came more public shows of affection from those embracing the social change - but marriages of convenience over pure emotion were still just as acceptable.

Stanley (Colin Firth) is a man of convenience and righteousness, refusing to look past his narrow-minded views on the world. His success in life acting as magician from the Orient Wei Ling Foo and engagement to Olivia (Catherine McCormack) lend to his views being perfectly rational. A trip to southern France at the insistence of long-time friend Howard (Simon McBurney) quickly threatens to shake up Stanley's entire existence. As the master of trickery he heartily accepts a challenge to debunk spirit medium Sophie (Emma Stone), who is seen to be fooling the Catledge family.

Defining what is real and what is not is harder for Stanley than meets the eye, Allen giving both he and Sophie layers to masking their identities. Uncertainty is paramount, delivered with more than enough of the snappy wit so familiar within Allen's work. Firth and Stone, both newcomers to Allen's ways, create an intriguing love/hate central relationship. This is despite the fact Stanley is such an unlikable man - his pessimism is obnoxious to the point of exhaustion. Firth is great at it, but the character presents as overwritten even with the inevitable twist. Stone on the other hand, is a delight.

It's a flamboyant film, using a simple idea and amplifying it with extravagance to emphasise a point. On what will depend on how you view the world - the pessimists' ability to prove their views are logical, or the optimist's ability to crack the pessimism and reveal there's more to life. Which in essence fits in with typical Allen themes – characters' boredom with life, anxiety and uncertainty about relationships. His films much of the time become a moral compass, asking you to reassess where your views on life sit, and this is no exception.

Allen assembles a great cast, which also includes Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver and Eileen Atkins. He also creates a whimsical setting with a southern France backdrop, further creating a dreamy world amidst the almost-sinister intentions at play. While entertaining, it will not rank among Allen's best. For those unconcerned, it remains a fun piece of snappy comedy with style.

Rating: 3/5

To be published in the Darwin Sun on Wednesday 3/9/2014.
MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of The Inbetweeners 2.