A screenwriter (Owen Wilson) is in Paris with his fiancé (Rachel McAdams) and her parents.  He realizes he loves the city and starts thinking about living there and being a novelist.  He begins to travel back in time to the modernist Paris of the 1920s and consort with the young artists living there (Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Picasso, among many others).  He falls in love with Picasso’s mistress (Marion Cotillard), and begins to drift away from the materialist McAdams.  In the end the tension between a longing for the past and living fully in the present is explored and Wilson’s character decides what he truly wants.

Allen’s most popular film of the millennia, Midnight in Paris is both crowd pleasing and insightful.  Having Wilson play Woody’s character brings fresh life to the persona (as per usual) and Allen’s thoughts about longing for the past and the effects on the present feel deeper than his usual material.  At times the use of historical figures feels cheap and perfunctory (see Adrian Brody’s Dali) but Allen’s rendering of old Paris is compelling and romantic.  The photography is beautiful and contrasts modern Paris (bright and colorful) with the nights of 1920s Paris (smoky and atmospheric).  Woody Allen has made over 40 films at this point and has more on the way.  Bob, the master of this website, often says that we will only truly appreciate Allen once he is gone.  That may be true, but it must be nice for him to receive some appreciation before he is dead.  I would recommend this broadly to those who enjoy comedies, Allen’s films, and romantic continental films.  ✰ ✰ ✰.

MJM  12-30-2011