by Spandau Belly on Wed Jun 22, 2011 10:10 pm
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
This is light whimsical Woody Allen comedy that employs timetravel to examine nostalgia. Owen Wilson dimisses the present as shallow and romanticizes the past, so he travels back in time and mixes and mingles with various famous artists from the past. And in a BILL & TED kind of way they are all portrayed as one dimensional caricatures.
At first I didn't like it because the characters around Owen Wilson in the present were such assholes that it was kinda unbearable. I'm sure in real life these super-rich old Republicans really are narrowminded assholes like this, but in a movie it just felt shrill. In the early portion of the film it felt a bit too much like shameless stacking of the deck to sell us on Owen Wilson's nostalgia. I mean seriously, piting the most boring narrowminded business schmucks of today against the most fascinating artistic personages of yesteryear ain't exactly a fair fight. I probably would've prefered having Wilson's character hanging out with pop stars and music video directors of today and dismissing them as vapid, trendy, and unromantic the same way people would've regarded the geniuses of yesteryear during their eras.
Once Wilson starts timetravelling the movie gets better. Wilson doesn't have the best chemistry with the guy playing Ernest Hemingway and so even the first portion of the timetravel wasn't really winning me over but at least it wasn't as frustrating as the stuff with his Republican in-laws. Allen struggles a bit with trying to write in the voices of other famous people, so some of Wilson's interactions with them feel a bit undercooked. Although I will say Adrian Brody's cameo was fucking funny.
Allen typically writes three types of characters: avatars of himself, dream girls who represent hope and excitement in the future, and bitchy nags who represent the staleness of routine. Once Allen brings in Marion Cotillard he finds himself in his comfort zone as a writer, and things get a lot better. Like usual, Cotillard as an actress embodies a genuine warmth that is very easy to fall in love with.
By the end, the movie won me over and I enjoyed it. Like most people, I enjoy the ego-stroking of having art confirm my own outlook on the world. So the movie's conclusion message about nostalgia was an easy sell on me. This is a perfectly fine mainstream comedy and it's nice to see an element of whimsy in a film (where are you hiding Jean-Pierre Jeunet?) but this isn't anything great. I doubt many people would regret watching this, but I also doubt if many would remember to revisit it ever.
