Movie Review Rewind: Midnight in Paris (2011)

Brandon Vick flips the calendar back to 2011 for a look at Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris on the latest edition of Movie Review Rewind.

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Sometimes when you go into a film not knowing much about it, it is a blessing in disguise. It surprises and impresses you because you didn’t know what to expect to begin with. At the same time, not knowing much about a film can backfire on you and leave you disappointed and empty inside. Unfortunately, this is the case with Midnight in Paris. I didn’t know much about the story, but I did know Woody Allen directed it and includes a tremendous cast with people like Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Michael Sheen and Marion Cotillard in it. How could I not be interested in all of that, right?

This film is a sweet romance. There is no doubt about that. But it also features time traveling, which seems to be more of a distraction than intriguing in the film. A family travels to Paris for business, and Gil (Wilson) and Inez (McAdams), a young engaged couple, are forced to find out what kind of people they truly are and if their relationship is as healthy as they think it is. Gil is a Hollywood script writer who desperately wants to be a real writer and write his first novel. 

He is in love with Paris and everything it has to offer. Its culture, the writers, and artists who were either born there or live there while creating their masterpieces, and just the simple beauty of the city when it rains. Gil believes his life would be much better if he lived in Paris during the 1920s, and one night while he is walking alone in the streets, he gets the chance to find out. A car picks him up and he finds himself at a party socializing with folks like Ernest Hemingway and Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald while running in to people like Gertrude Stein and Pablo Picasso.

Wilson is terrific as Gil. He loves his fiancée but is in love with Paris and the fantasy of being able to live there and write for a living. Of course, he wants to keep going back to the 20s, but soon the realization hits that it is just an illusion, and what he thought would be a much better life turns out to be not so great after all. Now that doesn’t mean he doesn’t learn a few lessons about who he is and the writer he wants to be.

McAdams is a real beauty, but she plays such a snob who only cares about herself. The part doesn’t seem right for her and no one can hate her. It is just not possible. But her character and the family do get annoying pretty quick. As for the rest of the supporting cast, Allen had too much talent to handle and isn’t able to do much with them. The only exception is Cotillard. Her character breathes new life into Gil and ends up opening his eyes to what was right in front of him this whole time.

Allen certainly shows the beauty of Paris and does not pass up the opportunity to show the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Midnight in Paris has the look of real elegance and sophistication and the attraction of it all on-screen will not go unnoticed. But the story really puts a damper on the entire film. The time traveling isn’t of great interest.

At the beginning, the mood and tone of the film seem to be going in a positive direction. However, once the clock strikes midnight and Gil gets carried away to the 1920s, everything slows down and begins to fall apart. The fascination and charm begin to disappear, and no matter how hard they try, Allen and the cast cannot regain any of it. Once the magic is lost, it never comes back.

Midnight in Paris could have been something wonderful and special, especially when you have a legendary director and a star-studded cast such as the case here. But the film could not capitalize on what it had in its possession and ends up falling flat. What Allen wanted to be the main theme of the film only ends up getting in the way. Overall, it is an aesthetic pleasure, but is missing important components such as cleverness, laughs, and chemistry.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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