Midnight In Paris (2011)

Marion Cotillard and Owen Wilson, Midnight In Paris (2011)

Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Marion Cotillard, Carla Bruni, Adrian Brody


It's hard to imagine a movie like Midnight in Paris. I came into the movie not knowing what it was about, at all. I simply knew that it took place in Paris, had a protagonist played by Owen Wilson, and filled out the bill with a star-studded cast and crew I was certain would not disappoint. And of course, like expected, under the direction of masterful director Woody Allen, they didn't.

Some people might say that this film can't be classified as a love story, but that would be totally inaccurate. Though the central couple -- Owen Wilson, in one of his best roles yet, and Rachel McAdams, in a wonderful callback to her Mean Girls days -- is cracked (read: not flawed; it's executed perfectly), have no doubts that this film, above all, is a love story between Owen Wilson's character and something else. It isn't a person, though -- it isn't Rachel McAdams' Inez, or Marion Cotillard's Adriana. It is a love story between Owen Wilson's Gil and the city itself, and what it brings to his life.

To begin, though, let's talk about Owen Wilson, now nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in this film. I'm going to be honest -- I'm not usually a big Owen Wilson fan. I like his work in films like Starsky and Hutch or Night at the Museum, but to be completely honest, I've never really taken him seriously.

He defies expectations in this film, to say the least. He's totally all-natural, and he's not fake whatsoever, and it's totally refreshing. The best part about his performance is that the wonder you feel watching all of this play out -- as Gil meets and adventures around Paris with various names that may or may not be familiar to you already, but certainly will be once the film is done -- is totally portrayed, expertly, on Owen Wilson's face. You always feel like you're with him, every second.

But though Owen Wilson's performance is, perhaps, the best I've ever seen him do, it isn't the crowning achievement of the film. Director Woody Allen has taken a concept which is potentially quite boring -- there's not much action, and the idea of historical characters that most people probably have never heard of could be construed as jawdroppingly dull -- and transformed it into something that engages the reader through masterful blocking and use of setting. The long takes -- which the movie is full of -- give us an insight into the actor's skill in their craft, and the scenic shots of Paris continually remind us that Gil isn't actually the main character: the city itself is.

The movie rounds itself out with a tremendous supporting cast. Some of the ones that shine the most, even in small parts, are Adrian Brody as Salvador Dali, who'll make you laugh consistently for the five minutes of screentime he has, Marion Cotillard as Adriana, a beautiful woman of the past who serves as Gil's human love interest, representing the Paris he loves and wishes to be a part of, Corey Stoll as an amazingly hilarious Ernest Hemingway, and Kathy Bates in her traditional 'mentor' role as the ever-famous Gertrude Stein.

This movie will show up again at the Academy Awards. Though Owen Wilson's performance might not be good enough to garner a nomination in the face of George Clooney in The Descendants, Ryan Gosling in The Ides of March, and Leonardo DiCaprio's surprisingly amazing turn in J. Edgar, I wouldn't quite count him out. It's almost a certainty, however, that the film -- along with its director, Woody Allen -- will recieve recognition by the Academy in way of nominations. Personally, I'd vote for Allen to win it all, but I'm not totally sure yet if I can count on the Academy to follow through with that. We'll see how things work out at the Golden Globes.

Final Rating: 9.3/10
Notable Performance: Owen Wilson as Gil