The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Magic in the Moonlight
Comedy · Drama · Romance · 2014
Set in the 1920s French Riviera, a master magician is commissioned to try and expose a psychic as a fraud.
Movie details
Magic in the Moonlight
2014 Comedy · Drama · Romance 1h 38m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
Set in the 1920s French Riviera, a master magician is commissioned to try and expose a psychic as a fraud.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Magic in the Moonlight?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Just Before I Go
Comedy · 2015
Ted Morgan has been treading water for most of his life. After his wife leaves him, Ted realizes he has nothing left to live for. Summoning the courage for one last act, Ted decides to go home and face the people he feels are responsible for creating the shell of a person he has become. But life is tricky. The more determined Ted is to confront his demons, to get closure, and to withdraw from his family, the more Ted is yanked into the chaos of their lives. So, when Ted Morgan decides to kill himself, he finds a reason to live.
How to Please a Woman
Romance · 2022
When her all-male house-cleaning business gets out of control, a mature woman must embrace her own sexuality, if she is to make a new life for herself.
Enemies, a Love Story
Comedy · 1989
A ghostwriter finds himself romantically involved with his current wife, a married woman and his long-vanished wife.
The Good House
Romance · 2021
When wry New England realtor Hildy Good rekindles a romance with her old high-school flame, Frank Getchell, it ignites long-buried emotions and family secrets that propel Hildy toward a reckoning with the one person she's been avoiding for decades: herself. Based on the best-selling novel by Ann Leary.
Chéri
Drama · 2009
The son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of love.
Playing God
Comedy · 2021
A brother and sister con-artist duo find themselves scamming a grieving billionaire by convincing him they can introduce him to God, face-to-face.
XX/XY
Drama · 2002
Three friends begin a dangerous three-way relationship that spirals out of control, leading to dire consequences that haunt them ten years later.
Breaking & Exiting
Comedy · 2018
Harry, a charming house thief, gets more than he bargains for during an attempted burglary when he stumbles upon Daisy and decides to save her from herself, sending both of them into a darkly comedic journey of self discovery and love.
Passion of Mind
Drama · 2000
A psychological romantic thriller where fantasy and reality become indistinguishable for a woman leading a double life in her dreams.
Family Weekend
Comedy · 2013
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Woody Allen
Written by
Woody Allen
Colin Firth
Stanley Crawford
Emma Stone
Sophie Baker
Hamish Linklater
Brice
Marcia Gay Harden
Mrs. Baker
Jacki Weaver
Grace
Erica Leerhsen
Caroline
Eileen Atkins
Aunt Vanessa
Court is in session
Put Magic in the Moonlight on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.