Midnight in Paris

Throughout my life, my parents had warned me about Woody Allen movies. When they were young, they went and saw "The Purple Rose of Cairo", and walked out because it was so awful. This disdain for Woody Allen movies had been passed down to me at a young age, even though I had never watch one of his movies. During the 2011 Academy Awards, I tried to watch all of the best picture nominations, and Midnight in Paris was one of them. It was time to watch my first Woody Allen movie.

From the opening credits, i could tell this movie was going to be special. The film starts with 4 minutes of beautiful shots of Paris, set to a wonderful Parisian soundtrack that plays for most of the movie. Allen is known to bring out the best in cities, such as New York and Spain, and you can tell his admiration for Paris by the shots he chose for his openning credits. Another thing I noticed very early in the movie was that Woody Allen attracts great actors. Midnight in Paris had Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Cathy Bates, and Adrian Brody. This movie was shaping up well.

As the movie progressed, I kept falling deeply, deeply in love with Paris. The scene that sticks in my mind the most was a very philosophical conversation while exploring the grounds of Versailles. This conversation centered around the concept of golden age thinking, which is as stated in the movie as "the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one ones living in". This thought leads in perfectly when the movie takes a very interesting plot twist.

While on a bit of a drunk expedition around Paris, Gil (Wilson), gets lost and takes a a break. When the clock stikes midnight, he is approached by a very old car, and the people inside ask him to come drink with them. He soon realizes that these people are idols of his, from the 1920's. Throughout his adventures, he meets the Fitzgeralds, Ernest Hemingway, and Gertrude Stein among others.

After returning to his dream period of history, Gil is faced with a decision: live his life in the past and escape reality, or return to his life and live it the best he can.

Midnight in Paris is a wonderful movie. Enjoyable from beginning to end, witty, funny, and even thoughtful. A movie that you can watch numerous times and still laugh, and that people will enjoy no matter what kinds of movies they like. I now understand why Woody Allen is so famous.

5/5