Midnight in Paris Review

By Spence Blazak

There are only three things in this world that make me salivate: a freshly poured Shamrock Shake, remembering that there is going to be a film version of The Hobbit, and a Woody Allen movie that doesn't suck. Yes. I worded that exactly the way I wanted to. I'm not even asking for a good one, since ones that are even watchable are about as rare as Mike Tyson sightings in Brick, New Jersey anyway. And asking for a great one? HA! Might as well walk into a Long John Silver's and order a Big Mac. Yet Midnight in Paris, by some divine intervention, is really and truly a great Woody Allen movie. Maybe even an excellent one. Perfect? No. But it is not every day a solid Woody Allen movie comes along, so this is worth taking note.

Allen's newest film is a comedy following Hollywood screenwriter Gil Pender (played with surprising brilliance by Owen Wilson) who is on vacation in France with his fiancée (played by a very Notebook-esque Rachel McAdams). Gil aspires to write "the great American novel" and thinks that if he was around in the Paris of the 1920's, he would have had a more productive career and been a happier person. Then the plot takes a surprise twist and dives into the genre of fantasy. I won't ruin the twist, mainly because I want to keep my word count down with this review, but it creates an unbelievably satisfying movie.

It has all the perfect elements of a great Allen film: quick dialogue, intellectual mullings, old school cinematography and camera work, pitch perfect soundtrack, hilarious snobby characters, Kathy Bates popping into the plot half way through, and a good Woody Allen. By this last one, I mean a good performance as the Woody Allen part. I'll explain. Allen writes himself into almost every script he has ever written. Whenever he is in his own movie, he plays himself. It's okay though, because that's why we love him. But once he got too old to play young parts, he never changed the way he wrote them. Scarlett Johansen, John Cusack, Mia Farrow, that tool from American Pie, Larry David, and Will Ferrel all played the part of Woody Allen when they were in his movies. This time, it was Owen Wilson's turn, and he does it with pure awesomeness. I never realized how funny he or his voice was until he says the line "Wellllll, I do like champaaaain," in that semi-Texas twang of his (keep an eye out for this). He gained my respect back that he lost for doing Shanghai Knights. My only real gripe with the movie is that it just needed a little bit more between the lines stuff. I know I sound like a snob, and I am, but check it out and you'll see what I mean. Without giving anything away, it just needed a little….more.

The recent onslaught of terrible movies on the local cinema has been like the evil Huns in Mulan attacking the humble villages of China. Every time we get excited to go see a new movie, the film industry (metaphorically) burns down our rice paddies and pillages our homes by throwing something at us like Tyler Perry Presents Big Momma's House 35. Midnight in Paris is the savior at the bottom of the mountain. Just when it seems like the Huns will take over China, a talking dragon lights off fireworks that kill all the Huns! Huzzah! (Yes. That is the actual ending of Mulan.) Forgive my extended metaphor, but this talking dragon is Midnight in Paris. It's a God send for moviegoers. With 4 stars being Crimes and Misdemeanors/Annie Hall and 1 star being any Allen movie made after the year 2000 that doesn't rhyme with Smatch Shmoint. 3 ½ stars out of 4.