Brody M
My heart strings have been plucked. What an incredible movie. Gil Pender’s vacation to Paris will stick with me forever. The movie begins with screenwriter and novelist Gil Pender and his fiancée Inez on vacation in Paris. Walking the streets alone one night, Gil comes across a taxi that allows him to travel back to the 1920s. Here, he is forced to face the realities of his life and relationship. The star-studded cast all deliver excellent performances, with Owen Wilson in particular giving a great comedic, but emotional performance as Gil. Under legendary director Woody Allen, this film thrives, and is funny and charming. The script, while a little corny, is perfect for a romantic comedy. The comedy is snappy and never lingers too long. The cinematography and special effects, while minimal, are tasteful and do not distract from the experience at all. The sound design and score, particularly in the scenes set in the past, do a stellar job at establishing a living environment. My only gripe with this movie is its themes. While Inez is intended to be displayed as a bad fiancée, Gil does not seem too great himself. He does not seem to learn any real notable lesson by the end of the film. Perhaps, however, I am hoping for something more optimistic, while this film stays firmly rooted in reality. 4.5/5
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
06/05/25
Full Review
Dominick M
“Midnight In Paris” directed by Woody Allen is a fascinating journey through time that is worth the watch. The story follows a writer, Gil Pender, visiting Paris with his fiancee and her family. To escape the judging nature of her parents, and his fiancee’s constant flirting with an old rich friend, Gil travels to 1920’s Paris when going to a specific stoop at midnight. The visual atmosphere carries the movie. Beautiful, striking colors like paints fill the screen. There is quite literally never a dull looking scene. A star studded cast is featured to play the many famous historical figures Gil sees on his journey. Each give an authentic and innovative performance that incapsulates the energy and passion of the many writers and painters we meet. The soundtrack however, I felt was the weaker side of the film. Although many scenes feature Roarin’ 20’s music with flappers and big bands, every other scene is either accompanied with the same Bossa Nova acoustic guitar track, or no music at all. Rachel McAdams delivers a delightfully infuriating performance as Inez, constantly tormenting the viewer with devious seduction of anyone but Gil. And Owen Wilson’s portrayal of Gil was a genuine one, an oblivious man always searching for the next big thing in his life. I personally couldn’t help but hear Lightning McQueen every time he spoke, however I won’t put that against him or the movie. Overall, I myself have never found most romance movies to be as engaging, but the time travel aspect and interesting dynamics between the medium-sized cast of characters created a riveting story through a vibrant and colorful lens.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
06/05/25
Full Review
max r
Midnight in Paris follows Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) an author who romanticizes the “golden age” of Paris, the 1920s. He and his fiance, Inez (Rachael McAdams), are on vacation in Paris and they meet with Inez’s friends Paul (Michael Sheen) and his wife Carol (Nina Adriana). Gil decides to break off from the group and take a late night walk whilst drunk and when the midnight bells sound he steps into a car and is transported back into 1920s Paris, his ideal time. In the past Gil meets his literary idols a colorful cast that includes Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates), Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston), his wife Zelda (Alison Pill), Salvador Dali (Adrien Brody), and Pablo Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo). Hemingway takes Gil to Gertrude Stein so she can review his first draft of his novel. There Gil meets Picasso and his mistress Adriana (Marion Cotillard) who hears the first few lines of Gil’s novel and relates to him about romanticizing the past. Gil and Adriana grow close before Gil returns to the present and tells Inez about his experience, she calls him insane and doesn’t believe him, they grow apart. Gil reads a diary from Adriana who talks about receiving a pair of earrings from Gil before they make love, Gil goes to an antique store to buy a pair of earrings to fulfill the diary’s foretellings. At the store he meets the owner Gabrielle who shares his passion for Paris and the past. Gil returns to the 20s and gives Adriana the earrings but he admits that he has a fiance, they both enter a horse drawn carriage and are taken to the late 1800s, Adriana’s idea of Paris’ “golden age”. Gil has a realization that living in the past prevents you from living your future, he leaves Adriana in the 1800s and returns to 2010. There he calls out Inez for cheating on him and she admits that she and Paul had an affair. Gil breaks up with her and decides to move to Paris, he goes out for a walk and finds Gabrielle and they walk off together.
Midnight in Paris is a messy film that tries to have an impactful message but fails spectacularly in its final act. Owen Wilson gives a fine performance but his character along with Rachael McAdams as Inez are both painfully unlikable characters, anybody who watches the first ten minutes of this movie can tell Inez is cheating on Gil and that they clearly are not a good fit for each other. Every side character in this movie is well casted however and they all give great performances, mainly Corey Stoll as Hemingway and Tom Hiddleston as Fitzgerald. The cinematography in this movie however is beautiful, every shot and set past and present is filled with life and activity. The theme of this movie is that you shouldn’t live in the past but this is heavily contradicted in the last ten minutes as Gil has a life changing realization that living in the past is bad but then he leaves Inez to stay in Paris and be with an antique dealer so that he can romanticize and live in the past. All in all Midnight in Paris is a well shot film that truly captures Paris’ beauty but fails to hold any meaningful weight.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
06/04/25
Full Review
Joseph S
“Midnight in Paris”, directed by Woody Allen, follows aspiring author Gil Pender (played by Owen Wilson) as he and his fiancée Inez (Rachel MacAdams) embark on a vacation in Paris, scouting a potential move there. One night while walking the parish streets around midnight, Gil is invited into an old fashioned car that sends him back in time to 1920’s Paris, where he finds love and creative inspiration through the literary giants of the time, most notably Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Adriana (muse/lover to Picasso). The movie is strongly influenced by the romantic style, not only due to the romantic authors/artists present in the movie, but also through the themes of love, impulse, and nostalgia that are implied throughout the movie. The romantic elements of the movie are enhanced by the movie’s beautiful 1920’s Paris backdrop, complete with romantic string music, old fashioned restaurants, and the extravagant fashion of the era. The cinematography of the flashback scenes is great due to this backdrop, although it makes the scenes shot in the present-day scenes seem bland and not compelling, though I believe this was done intentionally to enhance the magic of the 1920’s Paris scenes. Gil’s character was pretty well-written and fitting, his nostalgia and love-induced impulsive decisions fit the romantic theme; the various literary figures in the movie are decently portrayed, although Woody Allen went above and beyond to make it known who each literary figure was immediately, which felt a little over the top. The flashbacks to Paris were easily the most compelling parts of the movie and really gave the movie it's magic; I found them to be almost comforting. All things considered it was a solid, 1920’s-romantic-era-influenced movie that offers a unique and enjoyable watching experience, regardless of the evil man behind its creation.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
06/04/25
Full Review
Izzy N
Midnight in Paris is another classic Woody Allen directed film that unfortunately fails to live up to my expectations. I went into this film with high expectations due to the high ratings that it has received, including a 93% rotten tomato score, but was quickly disappointed. The movie follows Gill, an aspiring author and his fiancé on a vacation in Paris. Gill has been struggling with finishing his debut novel and while on a night walk to gain some inspiration he finds himself transported back in time to the 1920s. There he meets various renowned authors and artists and begins to avoid his fiancé/family activities in favor of time traveling every night at midnight. I have to give the movie credit where credit is due, the cinematography was stunning and the lighting perfectly encapsulated the romantic Paris setting that they were going for. On top of that the backing soundtrack added even more to the atmosphere. As for the acting, it was pretty solid, however I wasn’t a fan of the way in which a couple of the characters were portrayed. The historic authors were shown in a pretty respectable light but I found Gill to be condensing instead of the intended charming young author which made it difficult to emphasize with him. In general the other characters such as Inez were pretty shallow and more development would have greatly improved the movie. Beyond the characters, the plot is certainly unique and interesting; however its poor writing drags it down and makes it hard to follow and understand the characters' actions. Over the course of the movie Gill partakes in infidelity, as does his wife, yet the writing makes it so no clear motive for this can be found. Although the plot is messy, the message is clear: being stuck in the past and longing for the impossible leads to consequences. This is seen with the splitting up of Gill and his fiancé in light of the events that occurred in Paris. At the end of the movie Gill decides to move to Paris and immediately takes a liking to another girl right after splitting up from his wife. The message is great however the way in which it was communicated was hard to watch and tainted the central theme of the movie. This film makes the Mary Shelley movie seem like a masterclass in movie making.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
06/04/25
Full Review
Kaiya b
Midnight in Paris is a film about Gil, an aspiring writer, finding inspiration and help for his novel in the most outlandish place, Paris in the 1920s, while on vacation with his fiancée, Inez. Inez is not pleased with her future husband’s behavior, neglecting spending time with her to work on his book during the day and time travel to the 1920s for advice at midnight. This summary of the film I only assumed took place before me however, as the film was quite difficult to follow. Despite the star studded cast, featuring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Tom Hiddleston, and Adrien Brody, the performances in the film were only okay. There was nothing truly notable about each performance, other than the respect and grace with which the actors playing 1920s artists depicted their characters. Even that was unfortunately not enough to get the film off of its feet. The setting implemented was great for both time periods, with each choice made for the setting’s detail aptly transforming the space from modern day Paris to the old money, lush city from the 1920s. However, the shots when transporting its audience to a new (or old) world felt almost lazy. The only effect that distinguished modern day Paris from Jazz age Paris was the addition of a dim, yellow filter that made the shots difficult to view and obscured some elements of setting, costuming, and contrast. The sound design featured French classic jazz that did not change much throughout the film, regardless of its mood, which I actually enjoyed. The theme of Midnight in Paris is that living in the past distracts you from the present moment. When reading this theme, watchers (presumably) will be prepared to watch a man lose himself in 1920s Paris and his work, but then recognize the value of the life that he has built for himself. Instead, he joins the present moment and realizes that he hates the life that he has, leaves his cheating fiancée (whom he was also cheating on with a woman from the past), and moves to Paris, immortalizing the past that he had been visiting, before finding a woman from the present on the street that he had spoken to once before and going home with her. Though he curated his future into something more comfortable to live in, he made certain that he could always return to the past if ever he needed to. The script was decent, but again nothing notable. Overall, Midnight in Paris is a painfully mediocre film.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
06/04/25
Full Review
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