"Midnight in Paris"/Sony Classics/94 min./Rated PG-13/Dir. by Woody Allen
Over the past 45 years, Woody Allen has directed 45 films, making him one of the most prolific living American directors. Unfortunately, his films have also been pretty uneven. His unique voice can often tightwalk a dangerous line between insightful and whiny. In fact, some of his earlier, more acclaimed films I find almost impossible to get through. His films of the 80's, including "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Radio Days" were my previous favorites of his. It's not a coincidence that these films didn't star him (although he was a supporting actor in "Hannah"). His voice as a writer is much less, for lack of a better word, nebbish-like than his voice as an actor. Plus, I just find it totally implausible when he casts himself as a heart-throb (possibly the only failing that he and Adam Sandler share).
That having been said, "Midnight in Paris" is my new favorite. It's light, but surprisingly profound. A comedy that tastes bubbly, but manages to nourish beyond the fizz.
The premise is pretty high-concept for Allen. A successful Hollywood screenwriter named Gil (Owen Wilson) is visiting Paris with his high-maintenance fiancee (Rachel McAdams). While very taken with the city, he can't help but fantasize about what it was like in the 20's, when Paris was the epicenter for the greatest artists and writers of the time. His fiancee tolerates his nostalgic attitude all the while keeping an eye to a pseudo-intellectual former professor of hers (played with a great American accent by Brit, Michael Sheen).
One evening Gil separates himself from the group to walk through the streets of the city of lights, only to discover that every night at midnight a car arrives at a certain set of steps to whisk him off to Paris in the 20's. Wilson plays befuddled with a warm charm as he meets his idols, including Ernest Hemingway, F.Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and Cole Porter. However, when he leaves the group from the 20's, he's instantly transported back to 2011.
As I said, it's pretty high-concept for Allen, but the plot conceits give the film a misty warmth that permeates every scene, regardless of the time period. It's such a blast to see how different and how similar the two time periods are and Owen Wilson is the perfect "everyman" to take us on the journey. His natural stammer mimics Allen's trademark nervousness, but it feels more born out of innocence than Allen's does. Wilson is just happy to be along for this ride and every shocked reaction and star-struck interaction feels honest and sincere.
Speaking of honesty, one of the runaway terrific performances in this movie (and that's saying a lot with a cast this extraordinary) belongs to Corey Stoll as Hemingway. As he uses the language of love and courage and bravery, Stoll is every bit the personality I've always envisioned Hemingway to be. He gives the master author an authority that makes the audience just as mesmerized as Gil is.
It would be easy to dismiss "Midnight in Paris" as a nostalgic love letter to the grand history of the city, however Allen does so much more than cast a loving eye back in time. It's a love letter to art, to the creative spirit. It's a love letter to optimism and to courageously meeting the world with conviction of purpose. I adore the ways the ideas of the strength of love and the nobility of art are presented in this film. Plus, it's just a lot of fun.
"Midnight in Paris" is the anti-summer film. In a season where movies are judged by explosions per minute and opening weekend grosses, this is a movie that uses words and ideas to thrill. It's every bit the source of eye-candy and movie-going excitement that any other special-effects extravaganza is, it just nourished the mind and the soul as well. I loved this movie.
Grade: A
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