Charming comedy with a moral

Rating: 9/10 (31 January 2012)

For the past couple of decades, I've lost track of Woody Allen. Back in the 70s when I was in high school and college, a new Woody Allen movie was a cultural event. These days, they show up regularly like buses, and, like buses, they frequently go by without me even noticing them. (It doesn't help that I no longer live in a major movie market town.) Every once in a while I'll check to see what he's done lately, and rent a title; usually this results in mild to severe disappointment.
But what a charmer "Midnight in Paris" is. I love Paris, and obviously Woody does too; the camera lingers on one beautiful sight after another. I thought for a while that this film was going to end up like "Brigadoon," with a modern character willingly trapped in the past by love. But Woody gives the plot a fresh twist, with a lesson to be learned, especially by creative types. The cameos by the great writers and artists of the past are wonderful, and the "modern times" plot involving a doomed relationship is also handled well. The period music is also enjoyable, but Woody: why did you have to play that same guitar tune over and over? I almost lost my mind, but I was enjoying the rest of the movie too much to care.