Movie Review: 'Midnight in Paris'
Jonathan Hutchings
Seen on: May 30, 2011
The players: Director: Woody Allen, Writer: Woody Allen, Cast: Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen
Facts of interest: Carla Bruni, France's first lady, plays a museum guide in a supporting role.
The plot: Gil (Owen Wilson) is a successful, yet uninspired Hollywood screenwriter traveling with his disillusioned finance (Rachel McAdams) and her family to the French capital for business. While working on his first novel, Gil comes across various mental hurdles.
Our thoughts: Woody Allen is often criticized for being stuck in the past. The early 20th-century Windsor font he uses for the opening titles in virtually every one of his films, coupled with the ever-present classic jazz music not only immediately identifies the films as Allens', but it harkens back to times long past, no matter what the premise of the films are.
The power of nostalgia, and the artist’s search for purpose and meaning are two very familiar themes in Allen’s work. It may come as a surprise then, that "Midnight in Paris" criticizes our natural tendency to yearn for the past, just as much as it champions it. But, to analyze this film as a contradiction of ideas, or as an indictment of nostalgia is to miss the point. The film shows, it doesn’t argue.
The film begins with an enchanting, dialogue-free montage of city sights (kudos have to be bestowed upon cinematographer Darius Khondji, whose manipulation of lighting techniques and color palettes really make these shots pop). From the onset, it’s apparent that Allen has every intention of utilizing one of his most famous trademarks — incorporating “the city” as a central character.
It isn’t long before one realizes that this "Midnight in Paris" is nearly as loving an homage to Paris as "Manhattan" is to Allen’s home town. This ramped up, sensuous and idealized 1920s Paris seduces Gil slowly, breathing a new sense of ambition and purpose into his life, and giving him the cogent clarity he needs to rethink his career and confront the fractures in his relationship. Maybe it’s not Inez (McAdams) he’s in love with, but the city herself.
And what would 1920s Paris be without its cutting-edge artists? Whether it’s Gil’s conversations with Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates), Ernest Hemingway (played with tongue stiffly in cheek by Corey Stoll), Salvador Dali (Adrien Brody), or F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleton), this strong supporting cast really holds the film together.
There’s enough clever material here to entertain just about anyone (cinephiles will definitely get a kick out of an extended riff around Bunuel’s "Exterminating Angel"). I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the contributions of the terrific Michael Sheen. Here, he plays a pompous erudite scholar named Paul, who elicits a significant amount of attention from Inez, which, in turn, draws the ire of Gil.
Sheen damn near steals the show in just a few scenes, relishing the chance to play one of the most hilariously self-involved and hatefully egotistical characters that Allen has written since Alan Alda in "Crimes and Misdemeanors." Sheen is so pitch perfect here that it’s easy to forget he’s acting.
That said, "Midnight in Paris" isn’t without its flaws. Inez’ parents (played by Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy, respectively) are very one-dimensionally portrayed as being prototypical uninformed Americans with reprehensible politics.
It’s good for some laughs here and there, but I couldn’t help but wonder if Allen and company developed them as a means to placate the European, anti-American crowd (I can only imagine the heaps of condescending laughter coming from the Cannes audience). They aren’t allowed much depth, thus being reduced to obvious and crude framing devices and nothing more.
Taking this idea a step further, character development across the board is rather scant. It appears that a lot of people have taken issue with this (the Rotten Tomatoes consensus states that the film is “shallow”), but, ultimately, if all of the characters aren’t entirely fleshed out, and if Gil’s late night excursions aren’t accompanied with a lot of exposition, that’s okay.
Just as the reasons why Jeff Daniels steps out of a movie screen in "The Purple Rose of Cairo" are never explained, sometimes magic just needs to remain magical. What’s important here is the journey, the meditation on nostalgia.
Driving these points home even further is Gil’s chance meeting with a stunning art model (understatedly played by Marion Cotillard). She represents everything that he is not: free-spirited, uninhibited and self-assured. Interestingly enough, what bonds them, the deep yearning of yesteryear, of a bygone era where people were alive and all that mattered was seizing the moment, is also what spells their downfall.
She wants to go back even further to the French Renaissance, while Gil can’t believe she doesn’t share his passion for the '20s. These poignant, well-written plot points, underscored brilliantly with soft light and gentle hues (again, Khondji was running a cinematography clinic in this film) flesh out the film’s central message: nostalgia isn’t wholly healthy or unhealthy, but it’s necessary.
The power of memories, of our ability to create idyllic pasts—however manufactured they may be—is vital to our existence. They give us a sense of time and space, and if we’re lucky, maybe they can inform our future.
Freaky quote: "You're in love with a fantasy." - Rachel McAdams
The final word: Fans of Woody Allen’s more intricately plotted, inter-personal relationship films may be disappointed, but "Midnight in Paris" is unquestionably his best film since "Vicky Christina Barcelona." Better yet, it feels like classic Allen—mixing contemplation, philosophy and hilarity in equal measure.
On the web: http://www.sonyclassics.com/midnightinparis/
Article by Jonathan Hutchings
Reader Comments (3)
Bang up review Jonny. I agree that this is Woddy's best movie in a long time. I never thought of this movie not judging the idea of nostalgia before, but now that I've read the review it makes a lot of sense.
looking forward to your review on Judy Moody!
Excellent review! Saw it today, and wasn't quite as positive about it (but can be debated at a later time) ;)
BUT... you raise some good points that may make another viewing necessary..
LOVED this movie! I was in awe the entire time. I really liked that you mentioned how good Michael Sheen was in it. He may have never been better..... and that's saying something!