Midnight in Paris (2011)

"Midnight in Paris" is probably one of the most charming, funny and whimsical Woody Allen films I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

The film centers around Gil (Owen Wilson), a screenplay writer who travels to Paris with his snooty fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her family on business. While Inez seems to want to spend most of her time with a pompous prick named Paul, an old friend of hers that they happen to run into in Paris, Gil wants to soak up the romantic, beautiful city that is Paris. He seems almost infatuated with the city and its mystique. We also learn that Gil is trying to write a novel -- he's tired of writing vapid screenplays. He is also a romanticizer of the past. He seems to think life would have been better in the 20's when literature was at its finest. In fact, his novel is about a man, whom is modeled after himself, who works at a nostalgia shop.

One night during one of his late-evening walks in Paris, he happens to get lost. A strange cab pulls up with some French-speaking people dressed in period clothing and he is taken to a party where he meets some rather unexpected guests... the Fitzgeralds. As in F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda. We quickly discover that Gil has gone back in time and is thrown into the 1920s. During the next several nights, he continues to take these adventures back in time and meets the other members of the Lost Generation -- Gertrude Stein (who actually edits his novel for him), Ernest Hemingway (who is probably the funniest character in the film), and T.S. Eliot. He also happens to meet some other notable characters, including Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.

During his escapades, which he has kept hidden from his obnoxious fiancee, he falls in love with a woman named Adriana (played by the gorgeous Marion Cotillard). Adriana is a mistress of Picasso and she, too, believes that life would be better in the past...

One night, Adriana and Gil are taken via horse and carriage even further in the past where they get to visit the Moulin Rouge and meet Toulouse-Lautrec. As Gil realizes how much Adriana yearns for the better days of old, he discovers that maybe everyone feels this way and that perhaps it is merely an illusion.

There is more to the story, and of course, in the end things don't work out between Gil and Inez. Nor do they work out with Gil and Adriana, who has chosen to remain in the past (and by that I mean even for her). But Gil does find happiness and some new peace of mind by discovering that life is about the present, which - if you think about it - will one day be considered "the good old days."

Overall this movie was quite enjoyable. I loved the quirky historical figures, particularly Hemingway, with his love of alcohol and always wanting to start a fight, and Dali, who seemed to have a thing for Rhinoceroses. Definitely a film worth watching. If I had one word to describe it, I would say it was "enchanting" -- both thematically and visually.


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PG-13, 1 hr. 34 min.
Comedy, Romance
Directed By: Woody Allen
Written By: Woody Allen
In Theaters: Jun 10, 2011 Wide
On DVD: Dec 20, 2011
Box Office:$56.3M
Sony Pictures Classics