Review of Midnight in Paris (2011) by Alice S — 01 Jul 2013

You'd think I would love this movie, but alas, I'm just okay with it. It's nostalgic and charming, but it seems like canned nostalgia and canned charm. The representations of Gil's '20s literary heroes are somewhat caricatured, especially Hemingway's macho motormouth. But maybe that's the point...nostalgia never lives up to expectations in the light of day.

I wasn't terribly impressed with Marion Cotillard either. One of the only details I remember from "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger" is the first, glorious shot of Freida Pinto, and I was expecting equal glory in the shot of Marion, but alas, the murky lighting against her dark hair and raccoon eye make-up deadens her glow. Her acting also seems a bit dead. The only time she lights up is in the Belle Epoque when she gasps at the sight of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Then again, maybe that's the point...we all think we'd be happiest in another era. Argh.

So you see, I technically haven't MISSED the point - nostalgia is a passive not active pleasure. I just wanted some more substance. Carla Bruni and Alison Pill are respectively willowy and sassy.