Well, you have to watch it. Once.

Rating: 3/10 (3 November 2011)

Because it is a Woody Allen movie, we have to watch it.
But this one, hmmm, even though I was charmed by it throughout, it was the sort of charm described by Evelyn Waugh in Brideshead.
It begins with postcard/chocolate box pics of Paris that go on and on, and which we could do without.
And there's a rankle throughout. We see how Owen's character goes back in time, but we don't see how he gets back, and the difference between the 20s and late nineteenth century is just not marked enough.
And the biggest rankle is what does he do for money? It's bad enough suspending our disbelief when someone with long hair, an almost-beard an no tie is allowed into some of the best places in Paris of long ago. and nobody comments on his appearance. This guy should try being admitted into the Ritz in London even at breakfast time in 2011.
But no money? Couldn't there have been a plot device whereby he takes something valuable back to sell? There was a TV sitcom from Britain some years ago where the character walks through into wartime London which did the whole time travel thing much better, and this film reminds me of the series.
Also, Owen's character starts doing the whiney Woody Allen voice late in the film. We know Woody can't do these old bloke with a young woman roles any more but that's no reason to continue the whine when it's not Woody.
And what was the purpose of the old folks, the would-be in-laws? They did not serve the plot at all, apart from when Owen needs to escape from the hotel room.
And having Carla Bruni in with a speaking part is also a distraction as we are constantly reminded that, since she is the wife of the French president, Allen might have had better access to Parisian locations because of it.
Can't say I'll be viewing this DVD again.