Review: Midnight in Paris

Grade: B+

Gil is on vacation in Paris, France with his fiancée, Inez, and her parents, who are there for business. Gil was a screenwriter who is now trying to write a novel. He instantly falls in love with the city of lights and begins to talk about moving there, much to the chagrin of Inez. One night, slightly frustrated, Gil decides to take a walk around the city before heading back to the hotel. However, he gets lost and winds up in a part of Paris he is not familiar with. At midnight, while he is trying to find a way back to the hotel, a mysterious car pulls up and the people inside insist that he join them for a night of fun. He hesitantly agrees to join them, next he finds himself at a party where he meets F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso and more. He comes to find out that he has somehow wound up in the 1920s. It is there that he meets Adriana, a beautiful woman and mistress of Picasso’s. He decides to go back every night where he continues his odd affair as he also begins to question his relationship with Inez.

Midnight in Paris is the latest movie written and directed by Woody Allen (Whatever Works, Vicky Cristina Barcelona). I have to say, I didn’t used to care much for his movies, except for a few of his older ones, but over the last couple of years, he has really been winning me over. This movie is definitely one of his better movies of the last several years. It tells a very interesting story and is loaded with great characters. Gil forms a close relationship with a robust Hemingway and encounters many other great writers and artists of the late 19th and early 20th century. I found the whole time travel aspect of this movie very interesting. It shows Gil living in a time and place that he considers ideal. The whole story is very entertaining and funny at times but I wouldn’t really call this a comedy, it’s just a very lighthearted movie.

Owen Wilson (Hall Pass, How Do You Know) plays the role of Gil, a writer struggling to finish his first novel. I haven’t really like many of Wilson’s roles/performances for the last couple years but he did a great job and was excellent casting for this movie. He is of course playing the part that Woody Allen himself would play if he were younger and he manages to play it very well. Rachel McAdams plays the role of Inez, Gil’s fiancée. She was pretty good in this role and really managed to portray the character very well. Marion Cotillard (Inception, Public Enemies) plays the role of Adriana, Picasso’s lover. The movie has an amazing supporting cast that includes Kathy Bates, Kurt Fuller, Michael Sheen, Alison Pill, Tom Hiddleston, Corey Stoll, Adrian Brody and more.

Midnight in Paris is a very fun movie and one of Woody Allen’s better movie’s, in my opinion. It is a lot of fun to see all these great writers and painters interacting with the main character. It is a very charming movie and is definitely worth watching if you are a fan of Woody Allen at all. It’s a little bizarre at first but I quickly grew to love its quirkyness.