Movie Review: Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris is a pleasant talkie film. By that, I mean the characters meander the streets of Paris conversing. Nothing blows up (well, maybe a relationship or two), no one is killed, and at the end of the ninety minutes, you realize you want to sit in a cafe, drink some wine, and watch the world go by. Owen Wilson plays Gil, a successful Hollywood screenwriter. He's working on a book and wants to chuck the L.A. scene to live in Paris. He romanticizes the 1920s when so many American artists lived abroad. His fiancee, played by Rachel McAdams, thinks he's crazy. On this trip with her parents, he's the outsider.

Owen shambles along in his low key charming way and slowly realizes the engagment is all wrong. Every midnight, he strolls a certain cobblestone street and the atmosphere transforms into the 20s. He meets F.Scott Fitzgerald and wife Zelda, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter, et al - they are all living the bohemian dream. He falls for a French girl, played by the lovely Marion Cotillard. She the latest muse of Pablo Picasso, but she and Gil light a spark.

They discuss the times. He rhapsodizes over the 1920s, and she shrugs it off as boring. She desires to visit La Belle Epoque. Gil's time travel skill allows them to visit that era, and that's where she wants to remain. Alas, Gil's heartbreak and return to current day living does give him the oomph to say, "I'm giving Paris a try, and I'm finishing my book." (aaah, any writer's dream)

All in all, Midnight in Paris has snappy dialogue (written and directed by Woody Allen) and it is a writer/artist movie. Lots of fun meeting famous people before they really became famous. Owen Wilson's manner has us believe and enjoy his adventure. It's also amusing to witness Rachel McAdams play a total snot. You root for Owen to recognize her shallowness.

Say bonjour, buy your ticket, and fall in love with Paris via this film.