The Magic of Belle Isle - A Mature Romantic Comedy

**** out of *****

Running time: 109 minutes

MPAA rating: PG - for mild thematic elements and language including some suggestive comments.

Rob Reiner's charming romantic comedy, The Magic of Belle Isle, is a throwback to the charming romantic films George Stevens made in the 1940s. A curmudgeonly (yet handsome, charming and ultimately reformed) leading man, such as Ronald Colman in The Talk of the Town or Joel McCrea in The More the Merrier, encounters a prim (yet beautiful, vivacious and ultimately winning) young woman such as Jean Arthur (who starred in both aforementioned films). Muted sparks fly, followed by an ever-greater attraction until the couple finally gets together, rewarding the audience with the resolution they hoped for all along.

Reiner has succeeded with this style before, in his sweet and sour romances, The American President and When Harry Met Sally. So it's a delight to find he's done it again in his new comedy starring Morgan Freeman and Virginia Madsen. Working from a finely-crafted original screenplay by Guy Thomas, The Magic of Belle Isle is a welcome alternative to this summer's bumper crop of superhero vehicles, misogynistic bro-coms and animated kiddie films.

This is among Morgan Freeman's most memorable roles, rivalling  his work with Jack Nicholson in Reiner's The Bucket List and alongside Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption. Additionally, although he's never played a romantic lead before he perfect for the role. Reiner's inspired pairing of Freeman with Virginia Madsen (Sideways), heightens the power of writer Thomas' crisp dialogue and novel situations to create a believably mature love story.

The romance between a boozy, over-the-hill western novelist and an overworked mother of three is kindled when the charming Emma Fuhrmann, playing Madsen's middle daughter, hires the ornery ex-writer to teach her his craft for $18 and change. His subsequent visit to Madsen's house for dinner, and encounters with the quirky members of the lakeside community where he has come to house-sit, oblige him to take the first tentative steps back from the precipice upon which he has exiled himself since the death of his wife. Complementing  Freeman's and Madsen's work are sterling supporting performances by Fred Willard, Jessica Hecht and Ash Christian.

But ultimately it is the slow-cooker romance itself, a gently coaxed friendship that grows to become something more, which dominates this small film and makes it one of the year's best pictures. I'm not the sappiest of humans, but I was in tears on and off for the final half hour of the film, overcome with the reignition of a human spirit. The Magic of Belle Isle is a gift of joy.