Woody Allen's back again in "Midnight in Paris"

Woody Allen is one of the most iconic directors to come of New York and with comedies like Bananas, Annie Hall, and Manhattan-- as well as more Bergman-esque dramas such as Interiors, he has endeared himself to both mainstream crowds and lovers of independent cinema. However, with his new crop of movies, he has been less than successful. Scoop, Vicky Christina Barcelona, Whatever Works, and Cassandra's Dream, have all received very mixed reviews. Woody Allen returns to the helm as the writer/director of Midnight in Paris. This movie gives Woody Allen a chance to redeem himself for his past uneven movies and to once again establish himself as the one of America's premiere writer-directors.

Midnight in Paris is about a family in Paris on business, including a young couple who about to get married. Gil (Owen Wilson), a dissatisfied screenwriter who is struggling to write a great literary novel and Inez (Rachel McAdams), his apathetic and more materialistic fiancé are in Paris with Inez's parents and a few of their friends who happen to be there at the same time as Gil and Inez are. Inez and a few of her friends demean Gil's attempts to write a great novel. She wants him to return to the Hollywood studios that he believes to be fake.

On a nightly walk through Paris Gil wanders around lost until he is picked up by a mysterious car, and from there he is transported back to 1920's Paris where he meets literary and artistic greats from Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll) to Salvador Dali (Adrian Brody). Over the next several nights, he continues returning to the Paris of the past. Gil becomes further immersed in its collection of strange and diverse personalities.

 Eventually several of these writers, most notably Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates), helps strengthen Gil's confidence in his novel and his life in general. Through his trips to the past, Owen Wilson's character learns, like The Great Gatsby's Nick Carraway before him, that people spend too much time longing for "the golden past" that was never exactly there to begin with. Instead of dealing with the present, Gil has been looking back with nostalgia to a different era that was, in itself, imperfect.

The photography in Midnight in Paris is particularly enchanting with its use of warm, impressionistic colors and its mélange of beautiful shots of Paris. These shots appear on the outset with many quick postcard-like shots of modern day Paris, and they maintain the importance of the setting to the movie. Woody Allen's effective use of creating beautiful shots continues throughout the movie including a shot of Owen Wilson and Rachel McCadams kissing on a bridge where Monet used to paint. The shots are so well composed that they are like works of art themselves.  

Secondly, the photography is also effective in establishing the difference between a more "realistic" Paris of present day and a more ethereal Parisian past through the film's use of color scheme. This color scheme in realistic Paris is more muted while the one in imaginary Paris of the past is more vibrant and colorful.

The movie's rich mix of music from older French music to Cole Porter and Ella Fitzgerld reaches out to the past and reinforces the movie's nostalgic and evocative themes. The accordion music in the beginning is somewhat cliched, but it does manage to evoke the classical Parisian feel.

Finally, the acting is excellent. I particularly liked Owen Wilson's portrayal of Gil--the romantic writer. Even though, you can tell, from the characteristic way the screenplay is written, he is a substitute for a Woody Allen-type character. Rachel McCadams, who is blonde in this movie, was also great as the self-absorbed fiance. This was a major departure from her past roles in which she has been the object of desire or the more sympathetic female lead (see Morning Glory, Wedding Crashers, The Notebook etc). Another person who is particularly worth noting is Michael Sheen's portrayal of the arrogant, pedantic Paul who is the self-proclaimed expert on everything from wine to art to literature to history. His over-the-top pomposity is one of the highlights of the movie.

Midnight in Paris is a funny, heartwarming tribute to Paris: past, present, and future. It celebrates the past of Hemingway and Fitzgerald while urging us to stay in the present and to look hopefully towards the future. Woody Allen's movie maintains that "We'll Always Have Paris" and his movie is an ode to this eternal city, which continues to be one of the world's foremost cultural centers.