‘Midnight in Paris’ Movie Review

Director: Woody Allen

Cast: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody

Plot: Whilst on holiday in Paris with his fiancee. writer Gil Pender takes to walking the streets at night and finds his fantasy of mingling with the cultural elite of 1920s Paris coming true at the stoke of midnight. He begins living a double life in the past and present.

Review: It took Woody Allen an awful long time to leave his New York nest, but there’s no denying that his career hasn’t found new wind after crossing the Atlantic. He seems to be taking something of a tour of the major European cities and finding the unique heart and soul of each city in each new film. Woody Allen is – at long last – interesting again.

His decades of experience behind the camera are on display from the opening frame. The first scene is a wordless montage of some of the best footage of Paris ever dedicated to film, switching between tourist attractions and tiny cafes. Without a line of dialogue or a single character the essence of the city is distilled into a couple of minutes of footage that will tweak the nostalgia of anyone who’s ever visited the grand city. It’s very easy to get lost in the mood of the film from this opening scene.

The characters are interesting enough to carry the movie, and all are finely acted, but they can be tricky to get on side with. Owen Wilson’s Gil prattles on about Paris in spite of his fiancee’s interest and said fiancee seems determined to disagree with him on every single point. As the film goes on this central conflict doesn’t hold much ground as it is unbelievable to think these people would be able to get through a conversation without cursing at each other, let alone plan on getting married. As interesting as the plot device is, Gil must be the most boring person on the planet if his greatest fantasy is to hang out with some artists and writers in the 1920s.

Characters aside it is a pleasant movie. Wilson works against his slacker typecast to create an amiable characters with enough charm to carry the story. Not explaining how the time-travel actually came about is a smart move, adding to the sense of magic that sits over the film. The interactions between Wilson and the cast of oddballs his encounters is downright delightful. Although Wilson’s standard issue reaction to each of them (“YOU’RE such and such? Whoa!”) gets old quickly it’s hard not to share his enthusiasm when meeting such creative geniuses as Salvador Dali being played by Adrien Brody. Some, such as an encounter with Toulouse Lautrec feel like they could’ve been expanded upon but with so much to see it doesn’t bring the film down.

Although the narrative seems a bit scattered at the outset (Wilson doesn’t get along with fiancee, goes back in time to mingle with famous people, makes googly eyes at Marion Cotillard, rinse, repeat) but it all ties together with some strong over-arching themes. Wilson struggles with the feeling that he doesn’t fit in in his own time and his love for a girl who lived decades before he was born. The story bounces back and forth and detours into many side-streets but ultimately everything develops nicely and ends satisfyingly.

One might struggle to enjoy listening the characters prattle on about prattle, but the entire movie is beautifully shot, evocative of the unique Parisian culture and good fun. As a comedy it doesn’t produce much in the way of laugh out loud moments (except seeing what happened to the private investigator) but it’s got an irresistible sense of mirth.

Score: EIGHT outta TEN