Charming and original.

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2012)

"Midnight in Paris", Woody Allen's latest crowd-pleaser, is one of the most original films I've seen in eons. Ripe from Allen's raw imagination, the film captures Paris at its most majestic and the vivid characters blend into the tasty concoction of humor, romance and nostalgia. This one's a pure Woody Allen picture.
Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is a Hollywood screenwriter who longs to write something more creative than mundane screenplays. While working on his first novel, he takes off on a trip to Paris with his fiancé Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents. Gil's nostalgic about Paris in the 1920s. Tired of his lack of interest in most activities, Inez advises him to stick to screen writing. Inez wants to tour Paris in the company of her friends Paul (Michael Sheen) and Carol (Nina Arianda) but Gil isn't interested, and one night he takes off for a stroll when he runs into a couple of people on their way to a party. Slowly snapping out of his drunken self, he realizes that he's actually been transported back to the 1920s, where he encounters the people he idolizes : Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. In the 1920s Paris, he meets Adriana (Marion Cotillard) whom he falls in love with. Finally, Gil is left to face a big question : Does he want to live in Paris and meet people he idolizes everyday at midnight or spend the rest of his life doing what he's currently doing : writing films?
Just because this is a Woody Allen film, you know that the city will play a big role in the story. It does and how! Cinematographer Darius Khondji's magical camera captures Paris in the most subtle way possible. But what's special about this film is the superb writing, an art which no one knows better than Allen. The writing can't be categorized as comical but the humor is woven into the script with great finesse. The film depends heavily on the writing and the colorful conversations between the characters liven up the film which would've otherwise slogged. Apart from the marvelously written dialog and characters, the performances by the whole cast are exemplary. This is easily Owen Wilson's best performance and he brings a quiet confidence to his role. One sequence in the film, where Gil attempts to steal a pair of earrings which belong to Inez only to run into her and her parents outside the door, is so sharply written and enacted that it could well be one of the best sequences Allen has directed in years.
Though the film is innovative, it's devoid of a plot, however. A small plot could've turned this into a great film, but nothing happens except Gil going back to the 1920s every night and meeting up with his idols. That is the only issue I have with this otherwise fantastic film.
"Midnight in Paris" may not be a great film, but Allen's buoyant writing guarantees you an enjoyable 90 minutes. Seldom has a fantasy-adventure been this funny since Robert Zemeckis' miraculous 1985 film "Back to the Future". Way to go!