Midnight in Paris

[rue]

A new movie from Woody Allen with time traveling to the twenties:

From wikipedia:
"A romantic comedy about a family traveling to the French capital for business. The party includes a young engaged couple forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own would be better."[4] Gil and his fiancée, Inez, are in Paris, having a vacation with family and friends. Gil is a struggling writer, trying to finish his novel manuscript. Inez and the others are very demeaning to Gil and his aspirations to write. While alone out on a walk around midnight, Gil gets in a car with some friendly strangers. Gil soon discovers he has been transported to the 1920s. While there, he encounters famous literary icons who help him with his novel and his life.

[video=youtube;BYRWfS2s2v4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYRWfS2s2v4&feature=related[/video]

 

[Tomasso]

That looks good.

And the First Lady even has a cameo.

 

[rue]

Yes, I saw that

 

[Girl Friday]

Just saw this on Sunday. Loved it.

When the credits started I was sad... I wanted to see more Hemingway and Fitzgerald!

 

[WineGuy]

Wow! Wasn't that a great movie...Allen is back!!!! I loved Owen Wilsons portrayal of Gil, he was in a way Allen's new Avatar...all the Woody mannerisms without the neurosis. And it was great to see Rachel McAdams break out from the "girl next door" mold, I just wish they gave us a little more of her. Any body up to put together a 1920's night in the metro NY area?

 

[David V]

My wife wanted to see a LOT more of Hemingway!

 

[David V]

Wow! Wasn't that a great movie...Allen is back!!!! I loved Owen Wilsons portrayal of Gil, he was in a way Allen's new Avatar...all the Woody mannerisms without the neurosis. And it was great to see Rachel McAdams break out from the "girl next door" mold, I just wish they gave us a little more of her. Any body up to put together a 1920's night in the metro NY area?

And Owen was someone you could believe both Rachel McAdams and Marion Cotillard could fall for.

 

[skyvue]

Any body up to put together a 1920's night in the metro NY area?

Club Wit's End happens the last Saturday of every month, WineGuy.

http://www.clubwitsend.com/

 

[WineGuy]

Club Wit's End happens the last Saturday of every month, WineGuy.

http://www.clubwitsend.com/

WOW! Just checked it out...a million thanks skyvue!!!! I'll be there the 30th(that's the next one, right?)

 

[skyvue]

Yep, that's the next one. You'll meet a handful of Loungers, including me, at most Wits Ends.

I thought MIDNIGHT IN PARIS was Woody's best effort in some time, but I had my quibbles. I found McAdams' character to be inexcusably one-dimensional (more a fault of the writing than the performance), and though I usually like Owen Wilson well enough, I didn't quite buy him in this role, in part because the character's not very well drawn. We're told he flunked Freshman English and that he has been writing crappy Hollywood movies his entire adult life, but we're asked to accept that he's fully up on all these literary and artistic figures from 1920s Paris, though no clue is offered about when and how he came to know and admire their work so greatly. I could believe the character was up on Hemingway, but not for a second could I buy him knowing Djuna Barnes or proclaiming to T.S. Eliot, "Prufock is my mantra!"

The fault lies primarily with Allen for not filling the character out, but I have to also question the casting of Wilson, who has made too many dimwitted comedies in recent years for me to buy him in that role.

I think someone like John Cusack or Jason Bateman could perhaps have overcome the sketchy script or even, if Allen had dared to use an actor who is considered less attractive, Paul Giamatti.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie, but aspects of the script felt a bit rote. It was fun and entertaining, but could have been so much better, so it felt to me, much as I enjoyed it, a bit as if Allen squandered an opportunity to achieve something truly memorable. And as a former Allen fanatic who's lost interest in his work in recent years, that left me disappointed. I wish he'd spent a couple more weeks on that script, adding depth and dimension to the McAdams and Wilson's characters.

 

[WineGuy]

Yep, that's the next one. You'll meet a handful of Loungers, including me, at most Wits Ends.

I thought MIDNIGHT IN PARIS was Woody's best effort in some time, but I had my quibbles. I found McAdams' character to be inexcusably one-dimensional (more a fault of the writing than the performance), and though I usually like Owen Wilson well enough, I didn't quite buy him in this role, in part because the character's not very well drawn. We're told he flunked Freshman English and that he has been writing crappy Hollywood movies his entire adult life, but we're asked to accept that he's fully up on all these literary and artistic figures from 1920s Paris, though no clue is offered about when and how he came to know and admire their work so greatly. I could believe the character was up on Hemingway, but not for a second could I buy him knowing Djuna Barnes or proclaiming to T.S. Eliot, "Prufock is my mantra!"

The fault lies primarily with Allen for not filling the character out, but I have to also question the casting of Wilson, who has made too many dimwitted comedies in recent years for me to buy him in that role.

I think someone like John Cusack or Jason Bateman could perhaps have overcome the sketchy script or even, if Allen had dared to use an actor who is considered less attractive, Paul Giamatti.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie, but aspects of the script felt a bit rote. It was fun and entertaining, but could have been so much better, so it felt to me, much as I enjoyed it, a bit as if Allen squandered an opportunity to achieve something truly memorable. And as a former Allen fanatic who's lost interest in his work in recent years, that left me disappointed. I wish he'd spent a couple more weeks on that script, adding depth and dimension to the McAdams and Wilson's characters.

Very astute take on the flic skyvue...I agree with you completely on McAdams...this was a different character for her and I was left wanting more. I think your suggestion of Giamatti was spot on although I got the impression that Allen felt that a more attractive person was needed to to fit in with the literary crowd. I never viewed Wilson as an actor on the caliber or Giamatti but I've enjoyed his "valleyboy" persona in previous movies, I enjoyed his take on Allen, especially the scene where he was caught with the box of earrings. If you'll pardon my analogy to wine(my trade) "like a great bottle of wine, Allen has been going through stages of evolution, sometimes better, sometimes worse" I think this film was more an affirmation of his love of nostalgia and his own way of telling his critics "get over it, I'm comfortable in my skin and no longer a neurotic". I don't think we'll ever get another "Sleeper" out of him.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

I wish I knew women who looked like Marion Cotillard and Léa Seydoux...

Fun movie and all my years of Hemingway and 1920s worship "paid off", what with the knowing nods and jokes about Hem and Fitz and the rest. Hemingway was definitely the comedic-but-revered figure here; I never knew that Woody liked him.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

...And furthermore...

As someone who's worshipped Hemingway for the past seventeen years, I have to say that I was thrilled at how Woody made those knowing references (despite some minor anachronisms; but really, no big deal) and how he paid attention to the little details, like Gertrude Stein's sitting room--it looked just like its photographs--and how Kathy Bates even sat like Stein. Fitzgerald was dapper and charming, Adrien Brody's Salvador Dali was another comedic turn. I was so happy while watching Midnight In Paris. I'm pleased that Woody's getting praise--and good box office receipts--for his work once again.

It was wonderful that my cinematic hero has paid tribute to my literary hero. I was, as I posted above, unaware that Allen even liked Hemingway! Whatever the case, Woody has captured enough of their essence to (hopefully) inspire newbies as well as those who've loved this stuff for years.

It's also great to know that the film has gotten some young people interested in the 1920s. I've long since wanted a movie with this kind of content to capture the imagination of those who may not have known anything about that time but leaves the viewer wishing to learn all about it. I believe Midnight In Paris will be such a film.

 

[dhermann1]

I saw it Saturday night and loved it. I'll agree with Skyvue, all in all, but still, I just went with this film wherever it led me.
I must say, I don't know if this film would have worked half as well without Marion Cotillard, as the hero's muse incarnate. Most of the historical characters are really charicatures, except, to a certain degree, Hemingway. I'm not a Hemingway buff, but I've certainly read a lot of commentary on his life and personality. One wonders if this Hemingway really believes his own act. I suspect that's the inmpression Allen was trying to achieve.
And a special tip of the Hatlo Hat to Adrian Brody, as Salvatore Dali. A total hoot.
Another pleasing thought that I had while watching this film, when the hero stumbles into the Paris nightclub for the first time, is what a nice job Don and Diane do in evoking the atmosphere of this event with their monthly Club Wits End parties here in New York. Kudos to D & D.
See this movie, people!

 

[Nathan Dodge]

While I am a Hemingway buff, there was a scene in a car where Hem was discussing passion and women that I didn't recognize as coming from a specific book of his. It seemed more like an approximation of Hemingway rather than something from his actual work. I'm going back to see the film again tomorrow (with the wife), so I'll try to remember what he says. If anyone knows the scene and whether or not it wa sin fact from a Papa novel, please chime in.

EDIT- Couple of Hemingway quibbles: In the movie, Hemingway asks Owen Wilson if he's ever shot a lion. There's also further mention by Gertude Stein (Kathy Bates) that Hemingway and Adriana (not the Adriana that Hem went koo-koo for in 1948) went on safari, when in fact Hemingway's first safari was in 1933-34 (can't remember if it overlapped; I think it did), which inspired The Snows of Kilimanjaro, so it's unlikely that Hemingway had shot a lion during the 1920s. Once again, minor quibble--and I mean that with all due respect.

 

[davidraphael]

Looking forward to seeing this! Hopefully it will get to Germany soon!

 

[dhermann1]

Re: Shooting a lion. First of all, let's remember that this is really fiction, so a little creative license should be allowed. But what I did wonder was whether this whole lion thing was an example of Hemingway (or Allen's idea of Hemingway) being a guy who exaggerates his own exploits for effect. I've read that Hemingway's relationship with his nurse, portrayed in A Farewell toArms, was, in reality, much more of a puppy love sort of thuing. The lady in question looked upon his feelings as more of a crush, than a serious thing. I felt that Hemingway, as portrayed, was a little bit of a BS artist, even tho he really believed in the ideas he was espousing.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Re: Shooting a lion. First of all, let's remember that this is really fiction, so a little creative license should be allowed.

Yeah, but I just thought I'd mention it, for interest's sake.

BTW, here's that Hemingway-in-the-cab monologue; On paper it doesn't seem like Hemingway at all. Hats off to Corey Stoll for selling the idea of it being him, though:

"All men fear death. It’s a natural fear that consumes us all. We fear death because we feel that we haven’t loved well enough or loved at all, which ultimately are one in the same. However, when you make love with a truly great woman, one that deserve the utmost respect in this world and one that makes you feel truly powerful, that fear of death completely disappears. Because when you are sharing your body and heart with a great woman the world fades away. You two are the only ones in the entire universe. You conquer what most lesser men have never conquered before, you have conquered a great woman’s heart, the most vulnerable thing she can offer to another. Death no longer lingers in the mind. Fear no longer clouds your heart. Only passion for living, and for loving, become your sole reality. This is no easy task for it takes insurmountable courage. But remember this, for that moment when you are making love with a woman of true greatness you will feel immortal."

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Went and saw Midinght In Paris again today. It's been decades since I've seen a movie twice in the theater. I'd see it again this weekend, but it's leaving our local multiplex friday. I'd have to journey across town to see it a third time.

 

[Jeff M]

My wife and I saw it last weekend.
Loved it.
Will be adding it to the DVD collection when it comes out.
Having Hemingway speak in the style of his writing was a wonderful touch.
Casting was, on the whole, great.
Brody's Salvador Dali, in particular, was a hoot.
Been looking up some of the people I was unfamiliar with prior to the movie. Fun picking up some references that went past me at the time, like Gil's reply to Adriana when she comments that she sees Gil met (was dancing with) Djuna Barnes.
"Oh, that's who that was. No wonder she wanted to lead." :lol: