Midnight in Paris (2011)

Woody Allen’s latest, Midnight in Paris, opens with a three or four minute montage of shots just of Paris. I could look at these types of images for hours; no city is a beautiful as Paris.  Yet the pleasure I had of watching this opening was much like the pleasure of the film as a whole: great moments but no narrative thrust. 

The plot centers on Gil, a hack script writer from Hollywood, who romantically yearns to be a novelist, like his modernist literary heroes.  He is in Paris with his fiancée, Inez, and her parents, none of whom like or appreciate Paris in the least.  The relationship with the fiancée is so unbelievable that it is hard to get invested in the film.  Rachel McAdams plays the role for all it is worth but the character of Inez just doesn’t work. Inez constantly derides Gil’s literary ambitions and basically attacks him for desiring anything beyond material wealth.  The movie gives no hint at how these two ever came together; there simply is no hint of a spark, even a fading one, in their relationship. 

Owen Wilson is fine, even good as Gil; he plays the Woody Allen role with some of the well worn Allen ticks but only just enough to give a taste of the character without going into pastiche.  For me Wilson isn’t deep enough, or nuanced enough to bring much to the character though.  He is a pleasant figure but the relationship plot is so unbelievable and his literary ambitions clichéd, he never emerges as a full character.  The problem here mostly lies in the script, not Wilson’s acting, and he seems capable of filling a space in film more demanding than the dreck he has been in recently (see Hall Pass) but his amiable presence isn’t enough to get the viewer invested in the character. 

When Gil is magically transported to the 1920s and gets to interact with his artistic heroes, the film picks up.  Without any emotional investment in the frame story that surrounds the fantasy of 1920s Paris with its wonderful cameos and the gorgeous production the moments don’t add up to a fully satisfying film.   The feeling of Paris and the portrayals of great the writers and artists are enough to make the film entertaining at least.