Friday, July 8, 2011

Midnight in Paris

What's a better movie setting than the city of Paris (at least the good parts of Paris)? Woody Allen films Paris with a golden hue suitable to the City of Light. Midnight in Paris has the typical Woody Allen  nebbishy, insecure guy (the banana nosed Owen Wilson) who searches for happiness, etc- and the over-the-top female lead  (Rachel McAdam)  full of WASPish demands. Wilson yearns for the Paris of the 20s, and magically he time travels back to the days of impressionists and writers and entertainers he understands. It does get a teensy bit old- all the name dropping, and I'm assuming people under 45 might be scratching their heads on occassion. But the beautiful scenery, lovely costuming and introduction to Paris (for those who haven't been) more than make up for any plot dragging. Allen has always tended to self-indulgence but since he is so talented, we always go along for the ride with him.  Since I love Paris (too much), I loved the movie.  Truthfully, I liked Match Point better than this film- but it's a close second. A bonus is that the film is totally padded with half of Hollywood playing one role or another. It's actually kind of fun to see if you can name every actor in the film. Where else this year will you see time travel, Cole Porter, Gertrude Stein, and Paris in the rain?