Finally a smart rom-com with a difference and it takes screen legend, Woody Allen to show everyone exactly how it should be done. I never thought I would be describing a romantic comedy as one of the films of the year but I just can’t recommend Midnight In Paris highly enough and it is truly deserving of the title.
Screenwriter, Gil (Owen Wilson – The Big Years, Cars 2) arrives in Paris with his fiancée, Inez (Rachel McAdams – Morning Glory, Sherlock Holmes). And while Gil wants to lap up the romantic feeling that is Paris, Inez would rather hang around with her over-bearing parents, John (Kurt Fuller – TV’S Svetlana & Psych) and Helen (Mimi Kennedy – Life Of Lemon, TV’S Love Bites) as well as her annoying friend, Paul (Michael Sheen – Few Options, Jesus Henry Christ). Meanwhile, Gil finds a way to travel back in time and finds himself in the world of Ernest Hemmingway (Corey Stoll – Salt, Helena From The Wedding) and Gertude Stein (Kathy Bates – You May Not Kiss The Bride, A Little Bit Of Heaven). Here, he not only finds himself as a writer but also discovers the very beautiful, Adriana (Marion Cotillard – Contagion, Little White Lies).
Woody Allen (You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, Whatever Works) really has gone close to writing and directing film with Midnight In Paris. The characters are sensational (certainly not one dimensional) and Allen remembers the most important thing about a romantic comedy, and that is to include the comedy part. This is the kind of film that will have audience laughing out loud… a lot. He knows that he doesn’t need crass humour to make a film funny, his use of intelligent humour really does bring class to what is already a beautiful film. Allen also captures Paris in a way that only ‘an outsider-who-is-love-with-the-place’ can and it obvious that Allen has put a lot of thought into the film… if the rumors are true he has been planning on making this film for more than 30 years. His only slip-up lies with a confusing thing that happens with the character of Adriana but in the context of the whole film it can easily be forgotten about.
The other amazing thing that Woody Allen manages to do with Midnight In Paris is get a magnificent performance out of Owen Wilson. Wilson can be hit-or-miss at best but here he is brilliant. No discredit to Mr. Wilson but he does do ‘confused-and-lost’ really well and he is truly believable as Gil. In fact the whole cast does an amazing job, but along with Wilson it is Marion Cotillard that manages to steal the show and the scenes they share together are the highlight of the whole film.
Midnight In Paris is an intelligent romantic-comedy that is humorous and thoroughly enjoyable. It is a sensational film that shouldn’t be missed.
Year: 2011
Director: Woody Allen
Stars: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy, Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates, Marion Cotillard
Classification: PG
Runtime: 94 mins
Rating: 
Out on DVD/Blu-Ray 7th March 2012