Midnight In Paris (Sony Classic Movies)
The Emperors New Clothes
Woody Allen is a legendary movie director. His films have won numerous awards and his talent is revered worldwide. He is the maker of such outstanding movies as Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters and The Purple Rose of Cairo. In the past few years his ability to draw people into theaters has been diminished but critics and supporters alike still sing his praises. They call his movies wonderful and inventive.
Isnt it time we all just call a spade a spade, and reveal that the emperor is naked How long must we ooh and aah over movies like Allens latest Midnight In Paris Cant we just accept the fact it is a movie with a wonderful cast that does nothing and entertains little There is no action in the film. It is just made up of talk, talk and more talk. Some of it is funny and some of it is clever but a lot of it is just boring.
The plot of the film concerns a writer named Gil Pender (Owen Wilson). He has had some success writing screenplays for the movies but in reality he wants to be a novelist. He tells his fiance Inez (Rachel McAdams) this over and over. He is still telling her this when they arrive in Paris to spend a few days with her parents.
Paris seems to stimulate his quest to be a writer of books. He is entranced by the city and tells Inez he wants to live there permanently. She plays down this statement and drags him along to different art sites with a couple she knows named Paul and Carol (Michael Sheen and Nina Arianda). Paul bores Gil to death with his pretentiousness.
Later Gil wanders off alone to discover Paris. At midnight he finds himself in a section of the city with which he is unfamiliar. A vintage car pulls up and he is invited him to a party. He accepts. The party is an exclusive one and the guests include Cole Porter, Scott Fitzgerald, his wife Zelda, and Ernest Hemingway. Somehow Gill has stumbled back in time to the golden age of art and literature in Paris.
This is a fascinating premise for a film and it would appear something Allen could handle. He cant. He does nothing with the situation other than offer some pithy lines, and then just lets the film fizzle out. Even when he introduces the sultry and seductive Marion Cottilard as a beautiful woman named Adriana, he still cant make the movie interesting, or give it a purpose. She just adds to the conversation and eventually drifts away.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity.
Wilson is good in the role of Gil, the alter ego for Allen in the movie. He captures Gils sense of awe and wonderment. McAdams is appropriately sharp tongued and unlikeable as Inez. Cottilard enhances the film by her presence alone but her character is never defined.
The truth is nothing of interest happens in the movie, and the dialogue is not enough on its own to make the movie entertaining. Some may call it Allens best film in ages; other quieter voices will say the emperor is nude. His reputation makes him seem clothed but in truth his talent has mostly fallen by the wayside.
I scored Midnight In Paris a nighttime 5 out of 10.
