Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Run Time: 94 minutes
Overall Score: 4.5 out of 5 stars
I have always been a fan of Woody Allen’s work through his career but have been picky with his work in the last 10 years. I originally wasn’t interested in this film until it became Mr. Allen’s biggest grossing film to date since 86’s “Hannah and Her Sisters”. Let me tell you, I was missing out as this is easily one of the best film of the year. The acting is phenomenal and each player works perfectly off the next. The story is very sweet and light yet fantastical and heavy. Stephane Wrembel’s score accompanies the film very well and takes us on the midnight journey through Paris.
This is a romantic comedy about a young people Gil and Inez (Owen Wilson & Rachel McAdams), who are vacationing in Paris and are engaged to be married…but they are two completely different people. Gil has such a great love for Paris and wants a very simple life like in the 1920’s and Inez is very driven and cares a lot about appearance and status in society. After a night of drinking, Gil ends up getting in a car with strangers and finding himself transported back into a simpler time in time through the streets of Paris. Along his journey he comes in contact with various legends from our past including Pablo Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo), Salvador Dalí (Adrien Brody), Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates), F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston) and Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll) and they help Gil get his life into perspective.
The casting like I mentioned earlier is so rich and full of different types of talent. I really enjoyed Marion Cotillard performance as Adriana. Corey Stoll is also fantastic and funny as Ernest Hemingway. Owen Wilson is definitely the star of this film really breaking out of his recent rut and gives this performance his all. Although the film is so great the special features are not as spectacular as it only includes a brief panel interview, called “Midnight in Cannes” with a few of the cast and runs about five minutes. I would have loved to get some commentary and more behind the scenes from Woody Allen. Despite that, this is a must watch! Do not miss it.