MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

The story of a mismatched young engaged couple visiting Paris with the bride-to-be’s parents, ‘Midnight in Paris’, written and directed by Woody Allen, explores the yearning of its main characters’ desire to live in different locations and eras than they currently occupy.  Gil (Owen Wilson) is a successful Hollywood screenwriter reflecting on his struggles to write his first novel while vacationing in Paris. While Gil romanticizes over how wonderful living and writing in 1920s Paris would have been, his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams), a Madonna-esque material girl, urges him, as do her parents, to stay in the movie biz because he’s good at it and can succeed financially, all while secretly having an affair with a pseudo art/history-intellectual, Paul (Michael Shannon), she is fond of.

One night Gil, sauntering on the steps of a dark Paris side street, is accosted by a group of party-goers in an old fashioned buggy.  When Gil arrives at the party, and is introduced to Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston and Alison Pill) along with Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), he soon realizes he has gone back in time to 1920s Paris.  Moonlighting through time by night and quarreling with Inez and her family by day, Gil begins to realize what he wants from life and what he must do to obtain it.

I believe this is Allen’s most complete effort since ‘Bullets over Broadway’.  It doesn’t resonate with the same comedic touch as ‘Bullets’ or more of his classics like ‘Annie Hall’ but ‘Midnight in Paris’ is a extremely well written emotional vehicle that sheds light on the struggle many people have of the delusion life in another time and place would be favored to their own.  As usual Allen creates a story and film that is suited to showcase his writing and directing talents.  This is not to say the acting performances were not strong, especially in supporting roles from Pill and Stoll and a hilarious scene of Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali, but the focal point of the film is driven by the message and revelations of the story rather than dramatic acting and character development of the players.  It was interesting seeing Wilson and McAdams team up for the first time since ‘Wedding Crashers’ and, although their characters are being pulled apart instead brought together, their chemistry on screen definitely carries over.

Unfortunately I cannot predict what categories ‘Midnight in Paris’ will be nominated for because the nominations have already been announced.  I can say I see Allen as the frontrunner for Original Screenplay and a dark horse for Directing; however I don’t think the film has a chance in the Best Picture or Art Direction categories.  I was pleasantly surprised by what ‘Midnight in Paris’ had to offer, out on DVD now it is a piece of cinema from one of the great filmmakers of our time, and comes highly recommended.