Friday, January 20, 2012

Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen's most recent movie, is a very pleasant, delightful, easy going movie. It's about an American man and his fiancee in Paris; he is a screenwriter who regrets not having pursued a career as a fiction writer, and is working on his first novel. His fiance is negative and unsupportive, and seems fixated on material things while he is grappling with creative struggles.

He romanticizes Paris in the 20s, and miraculously gets transported back to that era, where he interacts with the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and the surrealists. During these encounters he becomes more inspired to pursue his art and make a meaningful life for himself.

The time travel and scenes with key figures from the literary and artistic era were well executed. Light and breezy, filled with clever dialogue and interesting insight. Owen Wilson played the traditional Woody Allen character, and he was so agreeable and likeable -- he really brought something to the role, making him sympathetic so that you are on his side (which, for me, is usually not the case with the Woody Allen persona)

My only problem with Midnight in Paris was the portrayal of the fiancee and her family. They were very broadly drawn and it was hard to take the relationship troubles too seriously. Because of this it lacked a dramatic center.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

well said--but the parents were typical of Woody movies--and there actually are parents like that--also there is a lot to be said for a film which keeps you smiling for 90 minutes...

Diana said...

I agree, I never stopped smiling. It was very well executed!

Anonymous said...

Oui. C'était amusent mais pas plus.