MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
PG-13
94 minutes
Writer/Director: Woody Allen
Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy, Michael Sheen, Nina Arianda, Carla Bruni
'Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity.'
-Robert Morgan
Midnight in Paris, the opening film at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival was warmly received. That is expected, Cannes is in France, after all. But underneath this love letter to Paris, is an excellent film.
Gil (Wilson) and Inez (McAdams) travel to Paris. They are engaged, but they do not seem very close or compatible, and this gets more obvious as the film progresses. Additionally, his in-laws do not seem to like him all that much.
By chance, they run into Paul (Sheen) and his wife, Carol (Arianda), old friends of Inez. Paul is a pretentious blowhard, on a speaking tour.
At one time, he worked in Hollywood, movie scripts, a high paying gig, that he did not much care for. While in Paris, Gil is working on his novel about a ‘nostalgia store’ owner.
At this point, even as a member of the audience, you find yourself painfully bored with Gil’s present life.
Around midnight, Gil goes out on a walk; an old car approaches him. A car filled a lively, rambunctious group of folks, on their way to a party. They ask him come along and reluctantly accepts the invitation.
Arriving at the get-together, he notices something strange. Everyone dressed in old clothes, Cole Porter is playing the piano. He is surrounded by people who resemble his literary heroes, but these people cannot be real. Oh, but they are.
Gil figures this out, and he is not really freaked out. He takes advantage of this opportunity. Coming back to visit, several nights in a row.He brings back his unfinished novel to have Gertrude Stein critique it. Bits of his real life are in the novel, she notices this and seems to understand his life with complete, albeit detached clarity.
“Where do you think Gil goes to every night?”
His father-in-law sends a spy to follow Gil, the spy is unsuccessful, never returning to the present.
Characters in the 1920s. Key characters are highlighted in Bold.
| Actor | Character |
| Yves Heck | Cole Porter |
| Alison Pill | Zelda Fitzgerald |
| Corey Stoll | Ernest Hemingway |
| Tom Hiddleston | F. Scott Fitzgerald |
| Sonia Rolland | Joséphine Baker |
| Daniel Lundh | Juan Belmonte |
| Thérèse Bourou- Rubinsztein | Alice B. Toklas |
| Kathy Bates | Gertrude Stein |
| Marcial Di Fonzo Bo | Pablo Picasso |
| Emmanuelle Uzan | Djuna Barnes |
| Adrien Brody | Salvador Dalí |
| Tom Cordier | Man Ray |
| Adrien de Van | Luis Buñuel |
| David Lowe | T.S. Eliot |
| Yves-Antoine Spoto | Henri Matisse |
| Laurent Claret | Leo Stein |
| Marion Cotillard |
Adriana (Fictional, Non-historic Character)
|
I found myself strangely immersed in this fantasy world. The characters are not ridiculous caricatures, they are strangely believable. Rich, detailed, and surreal, much thought was put into every frame.
The film defies categorization: a mixture of sci-fi, drama, and romantic comedy. Like The Time Traveler's Wife, except this movie is good.
This is Owen Wilson’s best movie since SHANGHAI KNIGHTS. No, it is not as good as SHANGHAI NOON. What do expect, really? Woody Allen is a human being, not some sort of deity, who can compete with a martial arts, action-comedy, buddy film.
Most of his movies are not so life affirming and uplifting. They tend to focus on the more negative side of the human condition. Woody Allen is venturing into unfamiliar territory. Easily, one of his best since played the lead in that movie ANTZ (co-starring Sly Stalone).
Some things were better in the 1920s, like literature. Life moved a little slower, people had greater attention spans, interesting prejudices, uncured diseases, and shorter lifespans. And so it seems—our present is not too shabby.
Final Verdict: 95 out of 100
