"Midnight in Paris," written and directed by Woody Allen, is a romantic comedy that follows Gil (Owen Wilson) and his fiance (Rachel McAdams) as they tag along on her father's corporate business trip to Paris. Once there, Gil, a successful yet unsatisfied Hollywood screenwriter-turned-aspiring-novelist, unwittingly wanders back through the City of Light's colorful past to the Roaring Twenties and beyond, hobnobs with such famed personages as Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Salvador Dal and receives some valuable literary and life advice along the way. Already besotted with Paris, he dreams of settling in for good, but his fiance and future parents-in-law have other ideas.----Trevelyan WingDirected by Woody Allen Written by Woody Allen
With Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams100 minutesRating PG-13
Woody Allen's whimsical new picture takes the audience on a delightful journey into the more colorful and uncertain times of Paris's past, bringing to life a mlange of legendary artistic figures. The French capital is rarely if ever captured unflatteringly on film, but the shots of the city in this movie are of particular beauty, thanks to Darius Khondji's eye-catching cinematography. Owen Wilson plays his disarmingly sincere and romantic character to perfection alongside a colorful cast including Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein and the current first lady of France Carla Bruni as a tour guide at the Muse Rodin. The dialogue is diverting and clever, and unexpected moments of depth provide a pleasant surprise.-- Trevelyan WingOnce again Allen's knack for characters with nuanced oddities shines in "Midnight in Paris," and Wilson makes for the perfect wannabe novelist. While it is easy to assume the film is a merely a "back in time" shtick and at times can feel flat and childish, Allen's Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Dali possess a demeanor about them that neither deters from actual history nor deflates the idea. In contrast, however, the idol of Ines's (Rachel McAdams) affection seems to radiantly emit a "punch me in the face" sort of vibe. This film is a delight, perfectly playful and dryly hysterical to boot.-- Kate Sullivan
