Film Reviews

Midnight in Paris

• Rating:
• Director: Woody Allen
• Starring: Kathy Bates
• Details: US / 94 mins (12A)

Woody Allen goes whimsical, while Owen Wilson gives his best performance in years (granted, that's a low bar) in this slight but amusing romantic comedy which features a barrage of classic cultural figures. If you buy the premise, then you should find lots here to engage and amuse; however, the romance is as mechanical as you'd expect from an Allen joint.
Wilson is a neurotic, successful Hollywood scriptwriter vacationing in Paris with his snobby, immensely unlikeable fiancé (a wasted McAdams) and her anal, conservative parents. When he takes a walk one night after a drink too many, he is transported back to Paris in the 20's, when the likes of Ernest Hemmingway, Cole Porter, Pablo Picasso and F. Scott Fitzgerald hung out, talking about their respective crafts.
The plot device used to actually get Wilson's character back to 1920s Paris is hokey at best; a car turns up (that's not even a Delorean), and brings him about so he can have conversations with long dead seminal artistic types. It's Allen indulging himself, but as ever, he does so with charm, and a genuine love of the location where he is filming. Paris has never looked so beautiful and it's obvious how much this city means to the New Yorker.
Wilson's style of rambling, awkward delivery sits well with Allen's rapid-fire dialogue and ponderous witticisms. He hasn't been in a good film in a while, and he heads up an exceptional cast - not all of whom are utilised as well as they could be. McAdams is a wonderfully funny, gorgeous and talented actress who is filling a nothing role here, and obviously just signed on to work with Allen. Michael Sheen, Carla Bruni and Kathy Bates all make fleeting appearances, but it's Corey Stoll's deadpan Hemmingway who impresses most.
Typically indulgent, but cultural intellectuals will have a field day spotting their heroes and Allen fans will love it.

Review by Mike Sheridan