Review of Midnight in Paris (2011) by Brittany F — 31 Aug 2013

In my opinion Woody Allen is the king of the feel good movie. There is just something about most of his films that puts a smile on your face and Midnight in Paris is no exception. Basically the story follows Gil, a man who is unfulfilled with his life, as he is whisked away at the stroke of midnight to 1920s Paris.

However that sentence really doesn't do the film justice. It deals with so many things about human nature while at the same time giving you a fun romp alongside Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

One of the things I love most about this movie is the writing. Since I first watched Annie Hall I've been a fan of Allen's writing and his wit is in no short supply here. He is very clever about the way he references things and the way he writes dialogue for the characters modeled after real artists and novelists.

One of my absolute favorite parts, that I just noticed on this viewing, is when Fitzgerald is introduced and he calls Gil 'old sport,' which is a reference to his most famous work The Great Gatsby.

Allen mirrors the people's work to influence the way they talk. This is not just true for the writers like Fitzgerald and Hemingway, but also for the artists like Buñuel and Dalí. Speaking of those two, the rhinoceros scene is hysterical and is another one of my favorite parts of the movie.

Despite all the historical accuracies what really makes this film work is the character of Gil. I am not a huge Owen Wilson fan, so I was utterly surprised when I fell in love with his character. However Allen makes it almost impossible to not fall in love with him.

The contrast between the scenes with his finance and Paul and the scenes in the 1920s you're able to see life from his point of view and how alienated he is from his own life. Pretty much everything in this film works for me except maybe Kathy Bates.

She really just seems to be playing herself, but she's good so it really doesn't bother me it's just an observation. No spoilers but I absolutely adore the ending to this movie. Once it happens you're like of course this couldn't have ended any other way.

I would highly recommend watching this movie because everyone needs a feel good movie every once in a while and I don't regret buying it at all.