Midnight in Paris

Are there any movies you especially want to see this summer?

I’m the first to admit my tastes run a bit off-center. I couldn’t care less about any of the comic book hero movies coming out. Last night we saw Midnight in Paris, number one on my summer movie list, and I loved it.

If you’re not familiar with the story, Owen Wilson stars as a writer who wishes he could go back in time to the Paris of the 1920’s. He must have had some of the same college professors I did – I read a whole bunch of Hemingway and Fitzgerald in college, and learned about the expatriate community of artists and writers living in the City of Lights in those days. Or maybe Woody Allen had the same professors I did, since he’s the one who wrote and directed the movie. Let me tip my hand here and unabashedly say I love the Woodman.

His new film is enchanting, delightful, funny, wistful and wise. It’s also a treat for the eyes as he showcases Paris with the same sort of affection he often employs to show off New York City. In his later years he’s taken to using European cities as backdrops – Venice and Barcelona quickly come to mind, and now he’s put together a wonderful love letter to Paris.

The story centers on Wilson’s character Gil, who magically spends his days in modern Paris and his nights there in the 1920’s, meeting Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter, Picasso, Dali, TS Eliot, Hemingway, and both Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. It all works. I suppose if you’ve spent your life reading DC Comics and have never heard of the people in the sentence I just wrote, you’re better off avoiding this movie. If not, give it a whirl. I’d give the movie three and a half stars on a four point scale. I mean it’s not one of the all-time great movies ever made, but it is so, so, so much better than 98% of what usually fills our screens.

I won’t spoil the story, but I will add this: one of the sub-plots involves a woman who lives in the 1920’s and longs for “La Belle Epoque,” the 1890’s. Somehow she gets there, and meets Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas – all of whom wish they lived during the days of the Renaissance. I left the theater not longing for some by-gone golden age, but happy I live in this one, when Woody Allen is writing and directing films.

One last item of business – I have had a few people lately tell me they read my blog and want to follow or comment but can’t figure out how to do it. The trick is you have to have a Google account. If you don’t have Gmail already, then use the “follow” button on the blog and then follow the steps for opening a Google account. It’s safe and painless to do. Thanks!