He Put a Spell on Her
Melanie James (Jenny Seagrove) works for Brian Swann (Paul Freeman), a producer of TV shows, although he enjoys having the younger and attractive Melanie accompany him to various events. It is an event she sees Troy Gardner (John Shea) an American magician. Captivated by him she visits him at the country home he rents whilst staying in England and before long they are romantically involved. It is some thing which doesn't go down well with Brian who becomes jealous especially when Troy agrees to do a magic show on TV even hiring a private investigator to follow Troy and Melanie.
First things first and "Magic Moments" is an adaptation of a Nora Roberts book but it feels very different to the movie adaptations which would come later with this almost feeling more like a Harlequin movie with a strong focus on Melanie falling for Troy but questioning whether their romance is genuine or not as she questions whether he has hypnotised her. And when approached as an 80s romantic melodrama it has some charm although it is also cheesy in that 80s romantic melodrama sort of way. But we also have Brian's jealousy and his attempts to control Melanie with her coming to realise she needs to break free from him whether or not Troy is all that he seems.
But the trouble is that whilst we have romance, drama and revelations there is not a lot more to the movie to make it really attention grabbing. Well that is unless you watch "Magic Moments" as a fan of one of the stars as then you have Jenny Seagrove giving it plenty of English Rose charm whilst John Shea does hunky American but this is as typical as everything else in the movie.
What this all boils down to is that "Magic Moments" is one of those movies which probably did entertain audiences back in 1989 but watched now offers up little other than a look at Jenny Seagrove and John Shea from back in the late 80s.
