Woody Allen on top form

Rating: Null/10 (9 October 2011)

Woody Allen just gets better. He really seems to have come into his own as a director during his European odyssey. A year ago we were all thrilled by Vicky Christina Barcelona which also got Penelope Cruz a deserved Oscar nod. He is certainly a better director than he is an actor. As an actor he brings a little too much of his hyper self- examination which can become tedious.
Midnight in Paris is sweet and lively. It is full of pretentious characters but is an unpretentious film. The message is simple and delivered with consistent light humour. Owen Wilson fits in perfectly, just as he does in Wes Anderson material. Marion Cotillard is suitably beautiful and enigmatic. The rich Americans are pitch-perfect characters. Particularly fun is the agonising cultured intellectual who you just want to throttle, particularly when opining on wine, Monet and Versailles. There is also a great little semi- cameo turn from Carla Bruni.
Allen doesn't try to be clever about Paris. All the clichés are there - the sights, the cafés and the romance but the French characters are cast in a favourable light. You really get the sense that he likes the French, even if he doesn't quite understand them.
The basic premise of Midnight in Paris will make some wince. The way the starlets of the 20s are forced into the narrative is not all that natural and perhaps contrived. But for me it works and it is a necessary part of the concept. It does rely on the viewer knowing these characters from the 20s and 'getting' the joke about who they are portrayed.
I think Woody Allen is one of the great auteurs. He doesn't create grand masterpieces but he does have an absolutely unique and consistent voice. The world would be a poorer place without him. for me the only other directors who are so instantly recognisable for their style are Almodóvar, Bergman and Spike Lee. Thirty seconds into a blind viewing and you can name the director. Roll-on more of the "Woody Allen does Europe" era!