Midnight in Paris

UK Release: 7th October 2011

Watched on DVD: Thursday 2nd May 2013

Rating: 12A

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

Runtime: 1hr 40mins

IMDb Plot Synopsis: While on a trip to Paris with his fiancé's family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.

My Review: Once again, I bowed to the hype and decided to check out the much talked about, Midnight in Paris, directed by Woody Allen. To begin with I was rather bored, thanks mostly due to the irritation caused by Owen Wilson. Lets just say I’m not his biggest fan. He is the lead, so it took a while for me to get used to him, but eventually he grew on me. Rachel McAdams did a great job as his wife-to-be, playing a character I haven’t really seen her play before which was refreshing. The two of them are on holiday in Paris with friends and family and it is immediately apparent that they are the polar opposite of each other which led to some amusing moments. Wilson’s Gil plays a struggling novelist who is a complete romantic and nostalgist and would like nothing more than to move to Paris and take long walks in the rain. McAdams’ Inez doesn’t share those feelings at all. 

As I knew next to nothing going into the film I was very surprised at what happened next. What seemed like a predictable American in Paris changes his life after travelling abroad movie turns into a trip into the past as, on the stroke of midnight as Gil walks alone a strange looking car pulls up and he is pulled inside as the inhabitants sip cocktails and insist on bringing him along to a party. We soon discover that he has gone back to the 1920’s, meeting Gil’s heroes Mr and Mrs F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ermest Hemingway, Picasso, Matisse and T.S. Eliot, among others. Its all rather bizarre but if you go along with the flow the movie got gradually better and better as Gil returns to the modern day and tries to come to grips with his experience. He manages to return night after night and feels torn between the two times. It became gripping as I struggled to predict how the film would end satisfyingly. But somehow it did! It managed to pull together the beauty of Paris, the wonder of the 1920s and the magic in nostalgia and make one incredible film. Now I see what all the fuss is about!

Score: 8.5/10