The magic of Belle Isle (Morgan Freeman)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s over ten years since we watched ‘The magic of Belle Isle’. I had forgotten most of the story, but knew it featured Morgan Freeman, who is always excellent. We wanted something relaxing to watch, and decided on this 2012 film.

We were almost immediately captivated. 

Monty Wildhorn (Morgan Freeman) is a former novelist who was quite well-known for his western adventures. But life has not treated him well, and he’s lost both his faith and his mojo. He hasn’t written for years and has become an alcoholic. He’s in a wheelchair - we don’t learn why until much later in the film - and is both angry and depressed.

Monty’s nephew Henry (Kenan Thompson) persuades him to stay in a beach house, dog-sitting for the summer. He sets up Monty’s typewriter, hoping that the tranquillity of the location might persuade him to write again. 

Next door lives a single mother, Charlotte (Virginia Madsen), who’s in the throes of a divorce. She has three daughters: the teenage Willow (Madeline Carroll), nine-year-old Finnegan (Emma Fuhrmann), and five-year-old Flora (Nicolette Pierini). 

Willow is sulking at the start of the summer, wishing she was with her father, back in the city. She misses her friends, and spends a lot of time on her phone sending messages. Flora is often tearful, not helped by Finnegan telling her some exaggerated stories.  And Finn is usually eager to be helpful. She’s also quite inquisitive. When she learns that their neighbour was a writer, she persuades him to help her learn how to write stories, and they embark on a delightful friendship - of sorts.

There isn’t much story, and the plot, such as it is, is quite predictable. Monty gradually thaws due to the friendship offered to him, and the challenge of trying to help Finn discover her imagination. Willow finds some peace and begins a more adult, if tentative, relationship with her mother.  Finn, who is quite practical, makes a discovery…

But there’s so much more.  There are some quite amusing scenes where Monty talks to the dog, who mostly ignores him completely. There are some moving, very well thought-out asides when he starts a friendship with a young man called Carl (Ash Christian) who has some learning difficulties. Monty can perhaps relate to him because of his own physical problems. And Carl is thrilled to have the attention.

The setting for this film is stunning, and the acting as close to perfection as any I have seen. Morgan Freeman, of course, is ideally cast - I don’t know of any other actor who could have played Monty so well. Charlotte and her daughters seem like a real family - it’s hard to believe they met for the first time on set. Charlotte seems relaxed, if sad about her broken marriage. She’s hospitable, brave, and quite practical too. And she plays the piano. I don’t know if it was the actual actor playing - it certainly looked like it.

Willow is exactly the epitome of a moody teenage girl; she cares deeply for her younger sisters, and looks out for them, but she’s stressed about her parents’ break-up and angry that she has to live in Belle Isle. But sometimes she forgets her worries, and is able to enjoy being a child again. 

But the one who stands out the most to me is young Finnegan; the actor cannot have been more than nine herself, but she is totally believable, with shades of expression in her face and voice that are not often seen in someone so young. Her friendship with Monty, starting with a kind of one-side bargain, is extremely moving.

The rating is 12 (though PG in the United States) which reflects the lack of violence or anything sexual, although there's a fair amount of bad language. Some parents might be disturbed by the heavy drinking that happens in the first part of the film. But there are no drunken brawls, and a child might not understand what’s happening. However, I doubt if young children would find this at all interesting; despite the young actors, it’s a film for adults with a lot of emotional depth. 

Indeed, there’s no fast action in this film, no stress, no sudden rescues or secrets that have to be discovered. Instead, it’s a beautiful, poignant, and ultimately uplifting film that we should probably watch more often.

There aren't many extras on our DVD, but there are some interviews with actors and the director, which we found very interesting. 

Review copyright 2026 Sue's DVD Reviews