'Midnight in Paris' Review

If Woody Allen was trying to make another homage to another city, he has definitely succeeded. The shots of Paris (both past and present) were gorgeous. These shots alone would have been enough to sustain even a movie starring Megan Fox, but this movie was able to offer something more.

Owen Wilson was both charming and delightful in the lead roll of Gil — a lost writer swept up in the romance of the past. Gil, along with his fiance Inez, — the poorly cast Rachel McAdams (more on that later) — visit Paris with Inez's parents. Gil, the hopeless romantic, wants to wander the streets of Paris and Inez couldn't care less. Mysteriously at midnight Gil gets into a taxi cab and finds himself in Paris of the '20s with an endless supply of famous writers to befriend.

The standout role in this group is actor Corey Stoll's portrayal of Ernest Hemingway. It was as if the actual Hemingway had written the script for the character. His mannerisms and brevity of speech were spot on.

Marion Cotillard was another excellent addition to this story. She played Adriana, the beautiful lover of Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and briefly Gil. Adriana fully encompassed all that Gil loved about Paris of the 1920s — its romance, its grace and its laid back style.

Now on to Paris' imperfections. I love Rachel McAdams. Rachel McAdams' character Inez was not well-developed and was the wrong person for the job. Inez was supposed to be everything that Gil was not. She was intended to be the epitome of an American tourist — willing to believe a pompous friend when he argued with the French tour guide and unappreciative of Paris in the rain. However, McAdams' character just wasn't nasty enough. We all know she can do it (see Mean Girls), but something in the writing didn't connect. It was clear the two weren't meant for each other, but the complete disconnect wasn't quite there for me.

And I don't want to be overly picky, but if the costume designer placed one more awkward belt over top of her dress or shirt, I was prepared to leave. She wore about 10-12 different outfits throughout the course of the movie and 8-10 of those had the same misplaced belt.

Ok moving on. Recently McAdams hasn't been up to par. I hated her unnecessarily awkward character in Morning Glory and she's just finished filming a Nicholas-Sparks-esque film with Channing Tatum, The Vow. I hope she'll read the scripts a little more carefully next time, because recently I haven't seen her living up to her potential.

That being said, Midnight in Paris was a short (100 minutes) yet charming film that's definitely worth viewing. The only thing better than seeing Paris on the big screen is seeing it in real life. Hopefully, I'll head back soon.

What do you think? Will you go see this movie?