Thursday, June 23, 2011

Movie Moment: Midnight in Paris

Stories about writers have always interested me. That's why I liked Midnight in Paris. Woody Allen's latest is about Gil (Owen Wilson), a successful Hollywood screenwriter who longs to chuck it all to move to Paris and finish his novel, a tale about a man who runs a nostalgia shop. By contrast, Gil's fiance Inez (Rachel McAdams) is a status-obsessed shrew intent on impressing her former professor, Paul (Michael Sheen), an irritating know-it-all who, along with his wife, all but crashes the young couple's vacation.

So, Gil is frustrated. By his career, by Inez, and by Inez's snooty parents. He feels like his dreams are slipping away, and that the charming and sympathetic artist's haven that is Paris is the only force that can keep them within his grasp. So he walks, alone at night under the stars, and unlocks a world so inspiring that his writing takes on a whole new dimension.

I won't say more than that, except that the setting is beautiful and the supporting roles of Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, and Adrien Brody superb. That and that it's the kind of fanciful, hopeful movie that makes you think life doesn't have to be a compromise, that you can have what you want and never grow up if you learn to appreciate the moment.

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