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"In theaters Friday, July 25\r\n \r\n2 1/2 stars (out of 4 stars)\r\nAn enchanting look at unlikely powers of love, this comedy is fluffier than a croissant just out of the oven.\r\n\r\nThat&amp;apos;s not good enough. By now, we expect more from a sharp-witted, prolific genius like writer-director Woody Allen. At 78 years old, he&amp;apos;s still at the pinnacle of his profession, dutifully releasing one original film a year. In the past decade alone, he&amp;apos;s crafted such masterworks as Blue Jasmine, Match Point and Midnight in Paris. It&amp;apos;s not too much to want another Vicky Cristina Barcelona &amp;#x2014; not another Scoop.\r\n\r\nBut la-di-da, guess what we&amp;apos;re stuck with. So let&amp;apos;s go back to Europe in 1928. A simpler, sunnier time. Stanley (Colin Firth) is an internationally renowned British magician who performs under the act of a Chinese conjurer named Wei Ling Soo. He might call himself pragmatic. Others would call him an arrogant blowhard. After a show, a fellow illusionist invites him to a friend&amp;apos;s home in the south of France to suss out a possible con artist. Seems a young American named Sophie Baker (Emma Stone) is passing herself off as a psychic extraordinaire. Smug Stanley gleefully brags that he can&amp;apos;t wait to catch her in a lie and &amp;quot;throw it back in her face!&amp;quot;\r\nUntil they meet, that is. Though Stanley doesn&amp;apos;t reveal his true identity or profession when he introduces himself to Sophie, in an instant, she senses an Asian heritage. Hmmm. . .  During a s&amp;#xE9;ance, wide-eyed Sophie successfully connects to the great beyond and reaches a client&amp;apos;s deceased husband. (A lit candle even rises above the table!) Then, during a visit to see Stanley&amp;apos;s wealthy aunt, Sophie clutches one of her necklaces and is able to rattle off her most intimate details. Stanley is won over &amp;#x2014; and in more ways than one.\r\n\r\nLike Allen&amp;apos;s most recent outing, the sublime Blue Jasmine, this film aims to examine angles of deception. In this case, there&amp;apos;s nothing more than meets the eye. Stanley can only attempt to debunk Sophie&amp;apos;s sixth sense so many times, making the narrative and humor oh-so slight. The auteur surely has something strong to say about religion and philosophy, yet nobody is going to leave the theater having any more insight into his views. Or, on a more basic level, understand what makes his characters tick. This matters in a comedy too! Sophie&amp;apos;s smitten suitor (Hamish Linklater), for example, courts her by chirping sweet nothings on a ukulele. That&amp;apos;s it. The end. Somehow we&amp;apos;re expected to believe that this vivacious beauty accepts a wedding proposal from this fool/borderline stalker. A third-act twist raises even more questions about her M.O.\r\nOnly the chemistry between dapper Firth and the luminous Stone goes beyond smoke and mirrors. And yes, even with a 28-year age difference between them, the two manage to pull it off. It&amp;apos;s evident as soon they duck for cover from the rain inside an empty observatory and Sophie innocently asks Stanley to put his arm around her to stop her from shivering. A single hushed image of the pair looking up at the titular moonlight is just lovely.\r\n\r\nStone began the summer single-handedly elevating the Amazing Spider-Man 2 and now, with her dazzling smile and charm, she saves the day again in this ho-hum effort. Wanna talk about real movie magic? Start with her."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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