First Hit: A wonderful and tightly shot film that is both satisfying and enjoyable.
Woody Allen has found a wonderful male vehicle to speak his lines and play the part he would have probably liked to play.
Owen Wilson was outstanding as Gil a successful Hollywood script writer in Paris with his fiancée Inez (played by Rachel McAdams). They're in Paris because they’ve “tagged along” with her very conservative rich parents. Gil makes good money as a film script writer which is probably the only reason why her parents John and Helen (played by Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy) tolerate Gil.
As a writer Gil is frustrated because he wants to be a great writer of books but suffers from confidence. While dining one evening they run into Paul and Carol (played by Michael Sheen and Nina Arianda) some friends of hers. Paul’s pompous style, her parents, and Paris pushes Gil to dream about what it might have been like to be a writer in Paris in 1940 or what he sees as the golden age.
At midnight one night an old car pulls up, one of the occupants pulls him in, and they go to a party. At first he thinks he’s fallen into a costume party because there was F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, and Cole Porter. But as the evening rolls along he discovers that he really is with these people and he’s been transported back in time to another era, his golden age.
Each night at midnight he waits, the car pulls up, he gets in and meets new and interesting people, like Hemingway, Dali, Josephine Baker, Luis Bunuel, and Gertrude Stein who promises to read his novel and give him some feedback. He also meets and falls in love with Adriana (played by Marion Cotillard) who is having an affair with Picasso.
One of the funnier scenes is during an art tour with Paul and Carol, Gil corrects the know-it-all Paul about a Picasso painting because the night before he spent the evening with Picasso, Adriana (whom the painting represents), and Hemingway discussing this very painting. As Gil becomes increasingly attracted to Paris, his golden age, and Adriana he begins to re-think his priorities with Inez and her family.
But the real question Allen puts before the audience is that often people think of another time, other than the time they are in, as the golden age they'd would have liked to been born in. But the fact is that where you are now is your time and it is what you do with it that counts. Here Allen exceeds, his point is made, because this film makes the point with fun, flair, beautiful scenes, wonderful characters, and excellent writing.
Wilson is perfect as Allen’s representative of his story line. Some of Wilson’s best acting ever. McAdams is good as the entitled spoiled fiancée. Fuller and Kennedy are great as the money and society obsessed parents of Inez. Sheen is particularly perfect as the self-obsessed arrogant know-it-all. Cotillard is excellent as Adriana the woman who can steal the hearts of men in a moment. All of the actors playing the great artists of the past of the past were outstanding. Allen wrote a brilliant screenplay while directing this cast with the sure handedness of a master at his craft. One thing to note, is that Allen proves that a film maker can tell a wonderful complex story in under 90 minutes. This film represents the joy of crisp clear storytelling in film.
Overall: This is a wonderful and enjoyable film and it will transport you and ensure you think along the way.