Rent Midnight in Paris (2011)

No matter how bad he gets I feel impelled to keep watching - Midnight in Paris review by CP Customer

Of the bad Woody Allen films out there, this is one of the best. At least it isn't about some old man having a relationship with a pretty young lady many years his junior. Why oh why does he caricature every person though? Why does he insist on hand holding you through the whole thing with overacting and overt set ups. Most of all, why do I keep watching every Woody Allen film despite their increasing embarassing flaws? Overall, I enjoyed it!

Magic Realism. - Midnight in Paris review by Steve

For many years, Woody Allen's characters fantasised about living in Paris... Owen Wilson plays a successful screenwriter who has just written his debut novel. He loves the city and dreams of the 1920s when it was host to American writers and the great artists of Europe. This is magic realism, and a close companion to The Purple Rose of Cairo.

Estranged from his materialistic fiancée and her rich, conservative parents, the author dreams so intensely of his golden age that he discovers a portal back in time, and meets Hemingway, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and Picasso. He gives his novel to Gertrude Stein. He explains his predicament to surrealists Dali and Man Ray.  

And he falls in love with Picasso's model/lover (Marion Cotillard), who herself dreams of La Belle Époque and Paul Gaughin and Toulouse-Lautrec, who in turn revere the Renaissance. The legends of the '20s are wonderfully cast, with Corey Stoll a stand out as Hemingway. It's a nostalgic reflection on the nature of nostalgia; an optimistic film which spills over with a love of life.

 And it's a spectacular flight of imagination. The photography of is drop dead gorgeous. The opening scene is a long montage of the landmarks which is more than touristic; it tells us, that this place is enchanted and to prepare for extraordinary things to happen. This is Woody's best film of the century.

Enchanting? We found it dull! - Midnight in Paris review by DH

Lots of people have said how enchanting this movie is. We found it ploddy, predictable and dull. We pre-empted the entire plot through to the inevitable conclusion. Yes Paris is pretty but it does not make a film. The speeches you can hear Woody Allens voice and his delivery in Owens performance. None of the characters are developed.

If you want mindless, light and frothy then this will do you. It felt like a rip off of Goodnight Sweetheart with Nicholas Lyndhurst just using a different time.