Midnight in Paris

So tonight I watch "Midnight in Paris", the Woody Allen movie. I brought it because I'm a big fan of Owen Wilson (and Tom Hiddleston and Adrien Brody even though they aren't in it much and Hiddleston wasn't even on the box) so the movie stood out for me.

***SPOILERS***

The story is about Gil, an American writer who is in Paris with his fiancee Inez and her parents.

The movie spends a lot of the time showing how incompatible Gil and Inez are, Gil loves Paris in the rain, Inez doesn't like Paris at all.

Inez's friend Paul and his partner are also in Paris and Inez decides to tag along with them, Paul is a know it all and Gil really doesn't get on with him being much more laid back.

One night after going to a wine tasting event Paul and his partner take Inez dancing whilst Gil decides to walk home. He gets lost and whilst sitting on some steps watching the world go past an old fashioned car stops in front of him and the occupants step out and invite him to join them. They take him to a part were he is introduced to Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda.

At first Gil isn't sure how to react, but after being introduced to Hemingway he realizes that actually he's been transported back to 1920. After leaving a bar he is transported back to the modern era.

He tries to bring Inez with him the next night but her lack of enthusiasm means she goes home early and at the strike of midnight Gil is once again transported back to the 1920s were Hemingway is waiting for him. He takes Gil to meet Gertrude Stein who promises to read the draft of his book, whilst there he is introduced to Pablo Picasso and his mistress Adriana.

There is an instant like between him and Adriana. Back in the present he finds her diary and reads that she dreamt that he came to her with ear rings. So he buys her a pair of ear rings and goes back to the 1920s, but this time he takes Adriana back to the 1880s (?) were she chooses to stay.

Back in the '20s and Stein wonders why Gil hasn't realized that the main character in his story hasn't realized that his girlfriend is cheating on him. As he'd based the characters on the people in his life he goes back and confronts Inez who admits to sleeping with Paul. After splitting up he leaves and meets a girl who loves walking in the rain in Paris.

This story is wonderful and so layered, the whole way through we are shown how wrong Gil and Inez are for each other but that isn't even really the main point of the story. The main point is to show that no matter what era you live in you'll always think another is better.

For Gil he was bored with his mundane life and wanted the thrills of the '20s but for someone living in the '20s it was just as mundane as 2010 is for Gil.

The characters were wonderful, Tom Hiddleston and Alison Pill are probably my favorite characters, they were so sweet, Tom had such a confused look on his face after first meeting Gil (before Gil realized what was happening) and Alison Pill was just great as Zelda. Adrian Brody made me giggle as well but Owen Wilson really was on top form in this.

It was beautifully shot and the looked so amazing on screen.

There is so much to love about the film, it deals with a subject such as time travel in such a delicate way and didn't let it get in the way of such a sweet and wonderful story.

Personally I loved the story it was sweet and even though he has a fiancee and falls for Adriana he chooses to stay in his time and finds someone you are lead to believe is perfect for him. Someone he could just go and walk in the rain in Paris with. The actors really brought the characters to life and they were some of the best actors right now. It was a joy to see one of my favorite actors in it without even knowing! I now don't know if it'll fit into my Tom Hiddlston collection or Adrien Brody collection.

It was just light hearted and made you really think about things. Inez is so different to Gil and it took a lot for him to see past dating a good looking girl from a good home. He couldn't even tell Adriana why it was such a good thing that he was getting married to her.

Gil was a wonderful character though and I think that was were the strength came from. He wasn't demanding and he reacted normally.

If you haven't seen it you really should as it is a lovely story to watch unfold.