Dear Paris

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2012)

Was it possible for this movie to be created in any other cities except Paris? In New York, Tokyo, Rome or even London, for instance? I don't think so. Midnight in Paris is tightly lashed to Paris, and it wouldn't be enchanting if it wasn't about Paris.
The movie starts with a 3-minute scene, showing a usual day in Paris from dawn till dusk. Eiffel tower, Champs Élysées, Moulin Rouge,...it seems like a map presented by Woody Allen, reiterating this fact that Paris is more important than anything else in this movie. Even the screenplay of the movie is incredibly easy-to-understand, helping you enjoy Midnight in Paris more than you expected, and that's the genius of Woody Allen. The others try to make their movies more captivating for the audience by writing more complicated screenplays day after day, while in his movie Gil just need to take a cab in order to meet with Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and T.S. Eliot. Gil Pender is a writer from California who came to Paris as a vacation with his fiancée, Inez. He's a 1920's enthusiast, and his new novel's character works in a nostalgia shop. While the others usually like the present, he prefers to live in Paris in 20's. For the others, he's one of those guys who lives in the past and has a kind of Golden Age Thinking. But Paris has a special gift for the man of our story; a cab which takes him to the 1920's. Everything is such a dream for Gil, but he just forgot this fact that Paris is the city of dreams. Soon after, he meets a woman named Adriana, who makes some crucial changes to his life.
Well, I've read some reviews and people's comments about this movie about six or seven months ago, and what I had in my mind before watching it wasn't so positive. My anticipation was that I won't really enjoy this movie because I'm not really a bookworm. While watching Midnight in Paris, I just knew that T.S. Eliot, Fitzgerald and Hemingway were great authors who had great novels. But I was wrong. Of course being familiar with these guys will help you enjoy this movie more, but Midnight in Paris has many other things for you. We have Paris – this amazing city - as the setting of the movie, a good art directing by Jean-Yves Rabier, terrific performances, and of course, another fascinating movie by our popular director Woody Allen.
Many people discourage you from watching this movie, especially some critics, but don't listen to them. You will be overjoyed to watch this movie, as I am right now. Don't miss it.