In Magic in the Moonlight, Woody Allen gives a romantic drama as gently crafted as its dreamlike use of soft focus: a predictable but entertaining affair which includes all of the director’s usual conceits, from the intellectual let down by his own arrogance to the hearty offering of literary and cultural references.

Set in the 1920s, Stanley (Colin Firth) is a famous stage magician performing under the guise of an oriental mystic called Wei Ling Soo. The wonder of his stage show, which he performs to audiences across the globe, is juxtaposed by his off-stage persona as a fervent rationalist and professional sceptic, ready to dismiss anyone who claims to perform real magic or posses supernatural powers. His prowess as a well renowned de-bunker of such charlatanism is put to the test when a friend and fellow magician (Simon McBurney) invites him to inspect the claims of a young medium/psychic called Sophie Baker (Emma Stone), whose enchanting appearance and apparent ability to intuit seemingly unknowable facts about the lives of those she comes into contact with provides Stanley with a challenge he has never known. Cavorting around south of France, Stanley and Sophie slowly fall for each other, the former being quickly convinced by the medium’s skills, but the truth of the matter is soon revealed.

After recent hits like Midnight in Paris and Blue Jasmine, Magic in the Moonlight can’t help but feel like Allen taking a step back to create a more easygoing product. It’s not that he’s mailed it in exactly, but compared to his last few efforts it does comes across as more of a made-for-TV film, albeit a finely balanced and executed made-for-TV film. It’s economic three act structure (the pledge, the turn, the prestige, as it were) keeps things moving, whilst its transitions and use of editing are (one would assume deliberately) reminiscent of the classical Hollywood mould of the 1930s and 1940s and refreshingly charming in this regard. Performances are likewise perfectly fine, although no one is particularly being stretched beyond their comfort zone and the less thought given to the pairing of Firth (54) and Stone (26) the better. For those who are interested this is probably better off being a stream or at most a rental, rather than a purchase.