Midnight in Paris

So this engaged couple, Gil andInez, tag along with her parents on Inez’s dad's business trip. To Paris. And as their story unfolds, we learn that Gil(Owen Wilson) is a Hollywood writer, successful financially with an elite joband an elite address. But of course he’s unsatisfied in his work because helongs to write the GAM. Doesn’t everybody? But he’s struggling to make thestory work.

The city of Paris inspires him. Hesees beauty everywhere, even in the rain. Maybe even especially in the rain. Hecan imagine what the place must have been like in the 1920’s, which heconsiders Paris’s Golden Age. So he tells his fiancée (Rachel McAdams) theyshould move there after they get married. And that flies over like a stainless steel baseball.

Not only does Inez disagree withGil’s romanticized view of the city; she also doesn’t share his assessment ofthe golden age. In fact she doesn’t actually share any of his views. On anything. Nor doesshe seem all that excited to be with him.

So she takes off dancing with herfriends. And while she’s hunting excitement, Gil takes a walk at midnight—hisfirst of several. And each time he does, along comes a 1920’s vintage car thatpicks him up. Next thing you know, the guy is meeting T. S. Eliot, GertrudeStein, Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter, the Fitzgeralds (as in F. Scott), andEarnest Hemingway. To name a few.

The excursions don’t exactly drawthe couple together. And that’s where I’ll leave their story. Though it comes to a satisfying resolution, their flawedrelationship isn’t the cool thing about this film.

And cool it is. Though I’m not ahuge fan of His Strangeness, Woody Allen, about once every decade he creates atruly great flick. And this is one of those. What makes it terrific is art andlit. First, he introduces Paris in its beauty. The camera lingers. Even theopening shots of the city last longer than your typical pans across alandscape. He provides the viewer with a visual feast. Or perhaps I should say a movable one?

Second, the viewer has the pleasure of meeting all thesegreat visual and literary artists, getting to know them through their own wordsin their own contexts and relationships. The personalities come complete withthe individual quirks for which they are known, like womanizing (Picasso), machobravado (Hemingway), and melodrama (Zelda Fitzgerald). So much art and creativity all in one place. Love.