The Case for Timeless Strolls

I was a bit nervous going into Midnight in Paris. It had received good reviews, but it was a Woody Allen movie (I have had uneven experiences with his movies) and it starred Owen Wilson (who is so much less cool than brother Luke, it is a crying shame). Luckily though, Wilson was channeling the neurotic part of Allen, so while he may have irritated occasionally, most of the rest of the film was left to delight.

I have to say "most of the rest", Rachel McAdams' character, Inez, and the rest of her family quickly when from charming odd balls to highly unlikeable characters that just need to be run over by a wayward Peugeot around the Arc de Triomphe or poisoned by a poisson in some fancy French restaurant.

From the outset, the film is doused in fantasy, so what develops is not so much of a leap. Wilson's character Gil is in love with Paris, and is travelling there with his wealthy soon-to-be family in law. They all see the high end of Paris, with no trips on the Metro or litter on the streets to add a bit of ordinary colour to the painting of their fairytale trip. But Gil is unsatisfied: he pines for what he sees as the golden age of Paris, the 1920s, when writers and artists from all over the world descended on Paris in a creative fervour. And one night, while out walking, he gets to go back and rub shoulders with the people of that era.

Therein lies the fun of the film. While I didn't get all the references, there are some great turns by actors portending to be Cole Porter, (my favourite) Earnest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald and hyperactive wife Zelda (the awesome Alison Pill, also from Scott Pilgrim), Gertrude Stein (a suitably brassy performance by Kathy Bates), Picasso, and an amusing turn by Adrien Brody doing a very odd Dali (Da-LI!) obsessed with rhinoceri.

With such a large group of legendary characters to draw from, all performed by such able actors, it is pretty hard not to lose oneself in the story. It is mainly just people running around saying things you would expect them to say in the way you would expect them to say them (well, those I knew did and I assume those who I didn't know would have, had I known what to look for), with Wilson's character mainly left saying "wow" every few minutes, to remind the viewer that this is not "supposed" to be happening.

It's almost a shame when the film shifts back to the present, especially after Marion Cotillard comes aboard and lights up the screen like she normally does as Adriana. Everyone else kind of fades into the background from that point on.

The film does not outstay its welcome, ending quickly enough once the life lesson has been learned. And what is that lesson? I would not want to spoil it by revealing it here - the film is worth a look, so I will leave that revelation for those who choose to see it.

Verdict: Midnight in Paris is a stroll through the past, a love story to the Paris that was and is - well, the romantic notion of Paris that ignores poverty and other social problems and the lives of the "insignificant" ordinary people who usually inhabit the real world. But go into the film not expecting to see anything approaching reality, and you (hopefully) will enjoy it just fine. 7.5 kilometres out of 10.