Midnight in Paris

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.

In The Loop

First Hit: Although this parody is funny, and provides an interesting look at how things might get done in Government, it is a little long winded and seems to lose the point here and there.

Washington and 10 Downing Street leaders are on their way to have a war. Although it is a very minor character in this film, the unnamed war is referring to our most recent Iraq endeavor. 

The film’s major characters are Simon Foster (played by Tom Hollander) a British Assistant Secretary of State, Malcolm Tucker (played by Peter Capaldi) as the British Communications Director, Karen Clarke (played by Mimi Kennedy) an American undersecretary, Lt. General George Miller (played by James Gandolfini) as a pacifist general, and a slew of other actors playing the conniving and sometimes pathetic assistants to the British and American politicos.

The feeling in the film is that brash behavior is the norm as no one seems too upset that Tucker says “fuck” or “fuckin'” at least 50 times, or in every other sentence, as he bad mouths everyone he meets and greets. However, this arrogance is somewhat mitigated when speaking to Americans as the British come off as a younger brother wanting to look tough instead of the leader of the pack.

Then there is the American Clarke whose mouth bleeds in stressful or unexpected situations which makes her lose her perceived power as a player. The cadre of assistants have some of the most interesting roles and dialog in the film as they position themselves and their bosses towards a decision about the pending decision about the war.

They move the plot regarding the decision about war forward so that it is a mere formality when the US and Britain decide to invade the unnamed middle eastern country with no truth based premise.

I found the acting good for the most part. What wore on me was the constant ego pumping, dissing and dismissing of others by politicos for the sake of pumping up their own egos. Whether this reflects some truth or not, I thought scenes were created to add more opportunities to create absurd dialog but added little to the story. I got tired of the tirade and because the outcome is known, I found myself waiting for the film to get there.

Overall: This film was a good parody and at times brilliant. However, there were too many scenes which I found the dialog pathetically overdone and unfathomable.