Allen's passion project for a golden city.

Rating: 8/10 (8 October 2011)

Woody Allen crafts a delightful little love letter to Paris. The film certainly isn't without flaw, but for the most part it really is this nice piece of movie magic. It's a look back into a golden era combined with a nice message about being able to appreciate what you've got instead of constantly living in the past. Allen again puts together a wonderfully talented cast to delight his audience, although some of the characters here are written much better than others. It seemed like he put all of his attention into crafting the time that Gil (Owen Wilson as the Woody stand-in) travels back to at midnight, and just got sloppy when it came to writing the present day. The characters that Gil has surrounded himself with when we first meet him are just absurdly banal and shallow.
Granted, I'm sure people like that do exist in real life, but there's just no way I could buy that someone as decent and good-hearted as Gil would put himself into a situation like that. Why on Earth would he be engaged to Inez (Rachel McAdams in a thankless role), the most vain and bothersome bitch in the world? It started off as a minor complaint, but the further the film went on the more it started to creep into scenes where Inez wasn't even around and continue to bother me. It all works itself out in the end, but it was just frustrating how we were supposed to believe he'd put himself in that engagement in the first place. It was lazy writing on Allen's part; instead of creating human beings he just created these blank shells to influence the main character.
Fortunately, this is where my complaints on the film pretty much end. The second Gil goes back to 1920s Paris at the stroke of midnight, things are taken to a world of pure Woody Allen magic. The concept for the film is incredibly unique, I'm surprised no one had thought of it before, and feels very Woody right from the start. You take this ride back into the past and it feels so genuine. A concept like this could have been executed so poorly (time travel often is) but Allen doesn't spend too much time on the more scientific side of things and instead has Gil almost immediately embrace this experience; and why wouldn't he, he's getting the chance to live his largest fantasy. These characters are so wonderfully brought to life by this supporting cast here in the past.
Every single one of them feels like you always knew they would be. You don't doubt for a second that these are the real people because these actors bring them to life so naturally. Alison Pill is a scene-stealing revelation as Zelda Fitzgerald, wild and out of control with her emotions. Tom Hiddleston is delightfully understated as her troubled hubby, F. Scott. Corey Stoll knocks it out of the park as the wild and blood-thirsty Ernest Hemingway. Adrien Brody absolutely steals his brief scene as Salvador Dali by creating one of the most hilarious moments of the year.
The real star though, and the star of the film, is Marion Cotillard as a character who moves her way through these famous men's lives. Her Adriana is Gil's soulmate seemingly, a gorgeous and intelligent muse who herself feels like she is living in the wrong time and longs for a golden age. Adriana is supposed to be this kind of woman who just casts her spell and draws men in at every turn, and Cotillard makes you buy it immediately. The second we meet her you fall into her spell, she is so enchanting and wonderful it's impossible to resist. Watching Cotillard here, I felt like people must have felt in the '50s when watching Audrey Hepburn really come onto the scene. She is just so beautiful and ethereal here, making you feel exactly how it feels to fall head over heels in love. I think this is one of her best performances so far in her career.
Owen Wilson pretty much does his usual Owen Wilson thing, just with a far superior script than he usually has, but the real treat of the film is this supporting cast back in time. In these trips to a golden age, Allen creates so many moments of genuine movie magic. They just take your heart in it's hand and make you feel alive and you really appreciate that life you have. My complaints with the supporting characters in the modern day were a big deal to me when I was watching the film, but since it ended all I've thought about are these moments that swept my heart away. That complaint feels pretty minor when the final product just makes me feel so good. Ultimately, the message about not living in the past is poured on way too thick, but it's a message that definitely made me think about my life when I came out of it. And boy, that ending is guaranteed to be the most purely blissful of the year. Really leaves you with a huge smile on your face.