Midnight in Paris (2011)

I used to find it difficult to objectively review a Woody Allen film because I love his work so much. I love that there are always a few jokes that work on a modern, crass level in his films but they are surrounded by other one-liners and situations which require a deeper level of observation, a greater level of intelligence. I love how Woody Allen movies, no matter what they are about, make some kind of philosphical statement about life here on Earth. No matter how trivial or profound the plots, Woody Allen movies always have philosophy.

But even I was not immune to a late-90s to mid-2000s stretch of lackluster releases from Allen, and for a guy who ran to the theatre for each new release, I started to find myself waiting for the DVDs and letting them collect on the shelf in plastic. And while I'm a firm believer in not judging a movie unless you've seen it, I'm fairly certain I haven't missed anything incredible if I have yet to see "Anything Else."

So then came "Match Point," one of my favorite films of 2005 and in my top five all-time Woody favorites. And then "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." And it seemed as though Allen was just New York-ed out, because with each new European city as a backdrop, the magic was back again.

Magic is the perfect word, then, to describe "Midnight in Paris," Allen's latest and his most magical film since "The Purple Rose of Cairo." So frequently grounded in mundane-but-worthy tete-a-tetes and the difficult-to-forgive mistakes of libinous adults, Allen seemed to have forgotten how much a little fantasy in his films could deepen our search for the meaning of life, rather than distract from it.

In "Midnight in Paris," the "Woody Allen role" is played by Owen Wilson. He's a writer named Gil, smitten with the city of Paris as he and his fiancee, Inez (the glowingly beautiful Rachel McAdams) tag along with her parents on her father's business trip. Her father's devotion to the Tea Party branch of the Republican party, by the way, gives the film its only modern or political flourishes.

Gil is successful enough as a film screenwriter but wants to be a novelist. He's disgusted by a man named Paul (played with delicious arrogance by Michael Sheen), a friend of Inez's who acts as their personal Paris tour guide, monopolizing the couple's time when Gil would rather be walking around the city, particularly in the evening and especially in the rain. This is when he finds Paris the most beautiful. And in the company he's keeping, he's alone in that thinking.

But Gil's company takes a mysterious turn when he goes out for a midnight stroll without Inez one evening and ends up in an antique car with a handful of rowdy partygoers. They deliver him to a heavily-populated gathering where he first speaks with a boozy, flirty young woman and then is soon introduced to her by her husband. The woman, the man says, is Zelda Fitzgerald. He is Scott. As in F. Scott. As in the 1920s.

Without saying too much - because the joy of "Midnight in Paris" is to revel in the figures that populated the Golden Age and appear to Gil here - Gil is newly-inspired to work on his novel after spending his nights sneaking away from Inez and drinking with the likes of Hemingway and Dali. He gives his manuscript to Gertrude Stein and her belief in his promise gives him more confidence than his fiance ever could. He witnesses an argument over the merits of a Picasso painting of one of his mistresses and then falls in love with the mistress, a stunning girl named Adriana (Marion Cotillard, officially in my top 10 favorite actresses). He uses what he learns from the debate to attack Paul when he pontificates about that same painting during a day trip to the Louvre.

As with any Woody Allen film, the cast is filled with award-winning stars and name-draw talents. Surrounding Wilson and McAdams are Oscar winners Cotillard, Kathy Bates and Adrien Brody. But equally impressive are the lesser knowns, particularly the machismo-oozing Corey Stoll as an honor-driven Hemingway.

But perhaps the best character in "Midnight in Paris" is the city itself, and making a city a character in his films is something Allen has been doing for decades. He does here for Paris what he did for New York in "Manhattan." An opening montage is like a slideshow for viewers of the city's most recognizable landmarks. They're filmed in daylight and the montage slowly gives way to evening and then to a rainy night. There is pure poetry in the sequence.

The film is shot by the brilliant cinematographer Darius Khondji, an Oscar nominee for his work on "Evita" who serves as D.P. here on his second collaboration with Allen. (The two are currently working together again on Allen's forthcoming Rome film.) Khondji plays with Allen's signature palate of golds, reds and browns with sensual, rich results. The film is as visually rich as is the script.

On that subject, Allen is most likely looking at his latest Oscar nomination for his screenplay. He hasn't been nominated since "Match Point" for his writing (or anything else), but his blend here of fantasy, poetry and philosphy is award-worthy. It's his most steady mixture of classic Allen themes with movie magic in a long time. "Match Point," as amazing as it was, won part of its glory by being such a departure for a Woody Allen movie. "Midnight in Paris" is as Woody Allen as any of his movies have ever been, making it all the more enjoyable to see it succeed as it does.

"Midnight in Paris" has, shockingly, become Allen's biggest box office performer, ever. And, it should be noted, the film is wet dream for the literati and anyone who majored in English. But it's style with substance, something rare these days. Inseprarable from the plot's unbelievable trip back in time comes a message about the perils of being too attracted to the past. The message is weighty and profound but the film does not weigh it down. Instead, the ideas linger, along with the film's visuals, for hours after watching it.

There's no question that "Midnight in Paris" belongs in the top 10 of all-time great Woody Allen movies. It might even rank quite high within that elite list. But wherever history will place it, I can put it in the context of this year alone and say that you're unlikely to find a movie this witty, this romantic, this thoughtful and beautiful, all year. Merci, Woody.

4.0 out of 4