Much has been made of the fact that “Midnight in Paris” is Woody Allen’s most successful film in more than a quarter of a century, with a box office take of about $35 million to date, chugging away to surpass the $40 mil that “Hannah and her Sisters’ garnered in 1986.
But forget those figures that have industry analysts standing up and taking notice – and just be happy that the movie is still playing at the box office, where it opened in late May. For if you haven’t seen it, and you have any inclination toward a light comedy set in the world’s most beautiful city with a unique literary history, you must.
Many of your fellow audience members will be repeat viewers, present company included, as we saw the film early in its run and feel the need to do so again.
Not necessarily a huge Woody Allen fan of late, because with the exception of “Match Point” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” a few years back, he seems to be just cranking out the same material with slightly different faces and locations.
MIP is different. A story that actually goes back in time and transports the modern-day version of Woody – in this case, a somewhat nebbishy but very successful screenwriter played by Owen Wilson – to a glorious and riproaring time in Paris history, populated with literary and artistic icons like Ernest Hemingway, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
We don’t think it’s a spoiler to simply say that he gets away from his superficial, materialistic fiancé– played by Rachel McAdams– every night at midnight. In fact, her character was the one element that we found less thanperfect about the film. She’s a complete one-note with very predictable, annoying behavior and frankly, McAdams really brings nothing to the role.
Wilson can also be a little bit predictable, pretty much playing the same character with different names in many of his recent films, but this is different – and he shines here. We’re feeling Oscar nomination.
But some of the most fun is seeing legends like Hemingway brought to life by character actors and well-known faces like Adrien Brody, who plays Dali– and the beautiful muse epitomized by Marion Cotillard, the perfect brunette counterpoint to McAdams’ ditzy blonde.
We must raise a glass of the finest French champagne to Woody for a beautiful piece that has already become a classic.
