movieinthepark.blogspot.com

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2011)

If you've just seen his last movies you'll find Woody Allen completely unrecognisable. Midnight in Paris comes out old style. Gil (Owen Wilson) is a Californian trying to write a novel. Engaged to Inez (Rachel McAdams), both travel to Paris, where they visit around with a couple, Paul (Michael Sheen) and Carol (Nina Arianda) that Gil finds to be the most annoying, whilst Inez is completely fascinated about Paul. One night, near midnight, Gil refuses to go dancing so he decides to walk home. During his route he gets lost and sits down, the bells rings midnight and an antique car passes by. Out of there gets a man visibly drunk asking him to join him and his friends. Gil is taken to a bar where he meets personalities such as Hemingway (Corey Stoll) or F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddlestone) among others like Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo) and his mistress Adriana (Marion Cotillard), who becomes relevant to the story. To summarise, Gil travelled in time, to his beloved 1920's, changing his life completely. Obviously this feature provided many hilarious scenes, despite its huge silliness. Wilson made a very good role. Gil does not only find inspiration in the 20's for his novel, he discovers that our need (by us I mean we in the 21st century) or habit to say and think that the old times were the times, this generation is lost and the human kind his done, isn't ours, but we actually share it with all the generations since our great great parents and their great parents. I think this particular point is where this movie wins. It sure is a very stupid argument, almost childish but with Woody Allen this things end up working surprisingly well. At first it seems not to fit in the story but in the end it comes out positively. And finally I come to watch Woody Allen make a movie where you can actually understand its characters relationships. Not Woody's best for sure, but weightless, interesting and amusing. 7/10