The week’s DVDs begin in the South of France:
DVDs for Dec. 16 by Boo Allen
This week, we begin in the South of France:
Magic in the Moonlight (***1/2)
Woody Allen travels to the picturesque south of France in his latest release to explore why we need our illusions. In doing so, he has rendered yet another thoughtful work, beguiling as it is charming, even if it’s not especially romantic or terribly funny. Allen wants the magic in this Magic to work on several levels, first as the story of a rational yet surly magician, Stanley (Colin Firth), intent on debunking the claims of a young psychic, Sophie (Emma Stone). Stanley believes all magic is nonsense but succeeds because audiences want to be fooled. He ridicules the ideas of spirits, after-lifes, and even souls. And he quickly dismisses all who do believe. Stanley and Sophie spend much time together, taking up the film’s bulk and delivering its minimum of unlikely and unbelievable romance. Eventually, Stanley begins to accept Sophie’s claims, even stating that he hopes she is a true psychic, thereby giving him something to believe in. Stanley, like his creator Allen, might suggest contentment can only come when deluded, in whatever form. Allen puts it best through the comment of another character: “The world may be without purpose, but it is not without its magic.” Cinematographer Darius Khondji wisely concentrates on the area’s lush coastal environs, while Allen branches out from his usual jazz-heavy score with various classical numbers. And, naturally, Allen assembles a strong supporting cast with competent performances from Eileen Atkins as Simon’s aunt, Hamish Linklater as Sophie’s love-smitten conquest, and Marcia Gay Harden as Sophie’s mom.
Rated PG-13, 97 minutes.
Extras: an 11 minute “making of” featurette “Behind the Magic,” and three minutes on “On the Red Carpet: Los Angeles Film Premier.”
Marius (***), Fanny (***)
Daniel Auteuil directed and co-starred in these two unrated, French language films based on the first two of Marcel Pagnol’s so-called “Marseilles Trilogy.” Auteuil also adapted the screenplays from Pagnol’s original stage plays. Kino Lorber now releases the 2013 productions in a single, two-film cover, marking the third time Pagnol’s revered works have been filmed. Set approximately in the 1920s, the films show their stage roots, being set mostly in the ocean front bar of César (Auteuil). There, his young son, Marius (Raphael Personnaz), works as a bartender. But he watches the ships come and go, and he too longs to go to sea. He hesitates to leave his widowed father, and, more, he has just confessed his love to his childhood sweetheart, Fanny (Victoire Bélézy). As Marius lines up a job at sea, he and Fanny grow even closer. Eventually, he leaves but without knowing Fanny is pregnant. So, in Fanny, which seamlessly follows Marius, her mother panics at the thought of the scandal of an unwed pregnancy and persuades her 18 year-old daughter into marrying 50 year-old Panisse (Jean-Pierre Darroussin). Auteuil focuses on life in the close community until the day inevitable arrives when Marius returns home, bringing an unexpected finish to the taut melodrama. Alexander Desplat contributes a lovely, lyrical score.
Both Marius (92 minutes) and Fanny (102 minutes) contain two brief featurettes on each film.
The Skeleton Twins (***)
This dark comedy begins with two siblings, the Skeletons, on either side of the country about to commit suicide. Maggie (Kristen Wiig) stops when a phone call informs her that her brother Milo (Bill Hader) has been found after his failed attempt and has been hospitalized. From there, Milo crosses coasts to recuperate with his sister, whom he has not seen in ten years. Their cool reunion makes part of the discomforting comedy found in unexpected places in the script by director Craig Johnson and co-writer Mark Heyman. The two Saturday Night Live veterans easily fall into their combative but reassuring sibling roles, while delivering the barbed dialogue needed to render the story of Milo’s history in their small upstate New York village. Ty Burrell plays an ex-schoolteacher who once had a big influence on Milo, and Luke Wilson registers as Maggie’s over-eager fiancé.
Rated R, 93 minutes.
Extras: two separate commentaries, a four minute gag reel, four outtakes, 15 minutes of deleted scenes and a brief “Sweet Moves” featurette.
Edith Wharton: The Sense of Harmony (***)
Elizabeth Lennard has directed and co-written this engaging documentary about Edith Wharton, the American author of such movie-friendly novels as Ethan Frome, The House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence and others. Wharton was born in 1862 New York City, thereby coming of age before her every action was caught on film. So, Lennard uses ample voice-over narration with a variety of visuals, including many black and white still photos of Wharton and the heady universe in which she traveled. She moved in New England society and also traveled frequently to Europe. Her European world consisted of such bold face names as Andre Gide, Jean Cocteau, Igor Stravinsky, and her life long friend and mentor Henry James. James called her his “Angel of Devastation” and encouraged her to write about the New York she knew, of the Astors and Vanderbilts. Wharton’s life and work receive amply scrutiny from various interview subjects, including biographers Eleanor Dwight, R.W. B. Lewis, and Louis Auchincloss.
Not rated, 57 minutes.
Also on DVD: Altina, Coyote, Green Eyes, The Maze Runner, Morris County, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.