3066
(0 votes, average 0 out of 5)
Written by Gregg Shapiro
Jun 2, 2011
A scene from Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.” – Photo: Courtesy
“Midnight In Paris,” Woody Allen’s return to form (after a pair of missteps), begins in Paris at daylight. The beautiful shots wouldn’t be out of place in Condé Nast Traveler.
Self-described “Hollywood hack” Gil (Owen Wilson) and his chilly fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) are in Paris with her stuffy, Republican parents John (Kurt Fuller) and Helen (Mimi Kennedy). Gil is smitten with the city and Inez is not. But when they run into Paul (Michael Sheen), a pedantic ex of Inez’s, and his new girlfriend Carol (Nina Arianda), Inez brightens. Gil, on the other hand, practically shuts down.
Paul (the kind of pompous boob that Allen writes so well), is in town to present a lecture. He’s the complete opposite of Gil. An unapologetic romantic, who idealizes the Paris of the 1920s, Gil is at work on a novel about a nostalgia shop, which makes him an object of ridicule by Paul, Inez and her parents.
However, things take an unexpected turn for the better when, after wandering the streets of Paris all day, Gil finds himself lost at the stroke of midnight. Suddenly the streets are filled with vintage cars. When a classic Peugeot pulls up, Gil climbs in and is transported to a party at Jean Cocteau’s, where he meets Zelda (Alison Pill) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston). In shock, but going with the flow, one minute Gil is watching Josephine Baker perform and the next he’s talking to Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), who offers to show Gil’s manuscript to Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates).
Once out on the street, however, he sees the bar revert to the laundromat that it is in the present day. But the next night Gil is intent on recreating his experience with Inez by his side. Impatient Inez has no interest and leaves. Wouldn’t you know it? Shortly after the stroke of midnight, the Peugeot arrives with Hemingway inside. Gil is whisked off to Gertrude and Alice’s, where he meets Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo) and the painter’s mistress Adriana (Marion Cotillard). Gil is smitten with Adriana.
And so “Midnight In Paris” goes, back and forth in time, from the present to the 1920s. In the past, Gil is thrilled by his interactions with Stein, Salvador Dali (Adrien Brody), Luis Bunuel, Man Ray, Djuna Barnes and others. He also finds himself falling in love with Adriana, who has her own fixation with the past – La Belle Epoque.
In the present, Gil is increasingly unhappy. His relationship with Inez is rapidly declining. The one saving grace is Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux), a young Parisian woman who has a “nostalgia shop” stall at a flea market.
“Midnight In Paris” is not as near perfect as “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” But it does find a way to meld many of the elements of Allen’s best work for a completely delightful, humorous, picturesque and entertaining movie experience.
‘Tree of Life’
Opening with a quote from Job, “Tree of Life,” Terence Malick’s meditation on the ways of nature and grace, is the most pretentious film of 2011 – so far.
Where else will you find Brad Pitt as a mid-century father and dinosaurs from some 200 million years ago in the same movie? No kidding!
Three stories are the interwoven branches in this overly long and self-indulgent cinematic miasma. A Texas family in the 1950s and 1960s, who put the wacko in Waco, consists of a strict and strictly unbalanced husband and father, Mr. O’Brien (Pitt) and his gentle and loving wife, Mrs. O’Brien (Jessica Chastain). They have three sons, including Jack (Hunter McCracken).
“The Tree of Life” is visually dazzling, something we’ve come to expect from Malick, who directed “Days of Heaven.” The minimal dialogue in this cinematic tone poem increases the reliance on the visual. His depiction of creation, from prismatic light to cloud formations and volcanic eruptions, to bodies of water and plant life and beyond, borders on the Discovery Channel documentary level.
Malick also captures the innocence of the mid-20th century. His attention to detail is nearly impeccable, from the style of speech and the rambunctiousness of youth to the fashions and home décor of the era.
But if you want something more out of a movie than seemingly disconnected references to family relationships, parental cruelty, dinosaur interaction, a portrayal of creation, domestic uncertainty and hurt and healing, you’d be better off climbing another tree.
