Is There Anything More Romantic Than "Midnight in Paris" ?

Life was so much better back then...

The Story:

Gil (Owen Wilson) is a successful Hollywood writer, but he very much wants to try his hand at writing a novel.  He travels to Paris on a vacation with his girlfriend Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents (Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy).  Gil loves Paris and wants to ditch Hollywood and move to Paris, but Inez is dead-set against it.  They bump into Paul (Michael Sheen), an old acquaintance of Inez, and he wants them to hang out with him and tour Paris.  Gil isn't interested, and finds an excuse to ditch the party.  He wanders through Paris and at midnight, a car pulls up and he is asked to come along for a ride.  The next thing Gil realizes is that he is hanging out with Cole Porter (Yves Heck) and the Fitzgeralds (Alison Pill and Tom Hiddleston).  Maybe he's drunk, but Gil is finding life in the Roaring 20s everything he thought it would be.  How long will this time travel experience last?

Well, I have to admit, this may be one of the first Woody Allen movies that I've actually watched.  Looking over his prolific career, the man makes about a movie a year, normally as writer/director, or at least director.

I think I was turned off by Woody Allen by his performance in Scenes From a Mall.  It wasn't that funny, therefore it's easier to just chuck his career and move on.

Now that I see he didn't write or direct that movie, I may have to rethink my position on Mr. Allen's career.

Eventually.

: )

Now, back to the movie at hand.

This movie was very charming, if not a directly a paint-by-the-numbers formula.  You can tell immediately just by their reactions that Gil and Inez are not meant to be together.

That said, there's nothing wrong with following a formula, provided you do it effectively, and this movie does so.

The real question is, how will Gil figure this out?  Will he stay in the 20s and live out his life, retroactively?  Or will he learn that the only true golden age is the one he lives in right now?

It is fun to watch Gil put the pompous Paul in his place with facts about Paris that he is gathering first-hand on a nightly basis by hanging out with the actual players.

Good fun all around.

Final Grade: B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: A definite yes to rewatchability, and yes if the price is right.  I've got a million other movies to purchase, so prices and titles have to be aligned perfectly. : )