I don’t know where I picked up my dislike of Woody Allen. Maybe it’s because I think he’s creepy? Whatever it is, I usually avoid his movies like the plague, so when my mom talked me into going to see Midnight in Paris with her, I told her I would be VERY UNHAPPY if he showed up in the movie.
So thank god he didn’t (show up), as that would’ve ruined a hilariously charming movie. Despite me being embarassed for Owen Wilson’s character on a regular basis (I know Wallace understands what I mean, as we’ve talked about that uncomfortable feeling that happens when you see people behaving in an awkward manner), I ended up loving the movie. It’s a reader’s dream. Almost literarily. Owen Wilson’s character (his name is Gil) is in love with Paris. He wants to move there and write a novel, but his fiancee would rather he stay in Hollywood and write screenplays so she can decorate their imagined Malibu home with expensive stuff. It’s a case of two people who don’t realize they can’t be more wrong for each other.
One night while out on a midnight walk, Gil is picked up by a car cruising by, and spirited off by his new friends Scott and Zelda. It takes awhile, but Gil finally tweaks to the fact that he’s hanging with the Fitzgeralds. And Cole Porter. And Hemingway. And on subsequent evenings, he meets Gertrude Stein (and Alice, though she didn’t offer him any brownies…I was disappointed), and Picasso, and Dali, and even Degas and Lautrec (and it took me awhile to tweak to the fact that he’d gone even further back in time for that trick).
Hemingway and Zelda were my favorites. Hemingway (played, believe it or not, by the bald detective dude from Law and Order LA) talked just like his prose, which was pretty hysterical, and poor manic Zelda was utterly charming in a doomed sort of way. There is also some gorgeous cinematography. I’ve been to Paris twice (pretty briefly, both times) and I’ve never fallen under it’s spell (I much prefer the more haphazard charms of London). But this movie does show it off quite well.
Photo by moi, 2005
Sounds like I would need a famous author styles refresher course to see this movie. Glad you found it charming. I do get the aversion to Woody, but some of his flicks are intelligent and quirky and I LIKE intelligent and quirky!
Care´s last [type] ..Tuesday Topicals June 21- 2011
I was just in Paris at the end of May so I’ve been dying to see this movie. I was a little unsure of Owen Wilson in the role, but from what you say, it sounds like he did pretty well. I’ll have to see if I can talk my husband into seeing it with me.
Kristi´s last [type] ..Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
I can’t wait to see this film! Especially since I recently read Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast in which the Fitzgeralds make a seriously crazy appearance and I’m a little in love with Paris myself.
sakura´s last [type] ..Special Assignments- The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin by Boris Akunin
I boycott Woody Allen on principle: anyone who marries his adopted daughter deserves to die poor and lone and rejected from society. Ick. It annoys me to no end that he made/starred in Annie Hall, since I love Diane Keaton!
Eva´s last [type] ..White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey thoughts
Ack! Must see this! Should I wait to go to the nice air conditioned theater until we reach 117 as we are scheduled to do, or go when it is 109 out? decisions, decisions…
rhapsodyinbooks´s last [type] ..Review of “Blood Red Road” by Moira Young
I also don’t like Woody Allen, and think he is skeevy. I have heard a lot of good things about this movie, but before hearing them it was something that I had zero interest in. Now I am thinking that I would probably really enjoy it, and I always enjoy watching Owen Wilson. This sounds like one I need to make the time to see.
zibilee´s last [type] ..The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa — 368 pgs
I really want to see this movie. I forgot that it was already out.
Beth S.´s last [type] ..Waiting on Wednesday- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
I have been wanting to see the movie just to see Paris because I spent a summer there three years ago. Knowing that it is literary makes me want to see it even more!
Lorren´s last [type] ..Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this one! I, too, have a thing against Woody Allen, but I keep hearing I would love this one. I think you’ve finally pushed me to see it:-)
nomadreader (Carrie)´s last [type] ..book review- State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Yeah, I’m gonna fall in love with this one, pretty darn sure. Can’t wait to see it!
Andi´s last [type] ..A Visit From the Goon Squad
I saw it last weekend, and agree with you entirely. I actually like Hemingway for once in my life. I’m glad you posted about it because it really was a literary treat.
Melody´s last [type] ..Beautiful & Pointless by David Orr
I took a summer class when I was in film school on the films of Woody Allen. He’s fabulous!! Even when he’s in a movie, he’s funny. Like, laugh out loud funny. Yeah, there was the whole creep thing going on with his adopted daughter, but putting that aside, he knows how to make fllms.
I want to see this movie but first I have to find the time, second it would be nice if a friend would go with me. However, my friends don’t care for Woody at all.
Ti´s last [type] ..Summer Reading 2011 or…If I read these books this summer- I’ll be happy
I cannot wait to see this movie. I wanted to see it just from the name, but your description of it sounds fantastic.
Suzanne´s last [type] ..5 Best Books About Travel
I guess I need to add this one to my netflix queue! I too am not normally a fan of Mr. Allen.
Amused´s last [type] ..Books Made Into Plays- Tales of the City
I didn’t realize there were so many authors in this movie. It sounds so funny! Now I just have to convince Boyfriend to see it with me…
Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)´s last [type] ..Off the Stacks- ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ by Rebecca Traister
I wonder if we might actually get out to see this at the cinema, or if it will be (like so many others) on our Netflix queue.
Woody Allen = creepy, skeevy, I agree!
Dawn – She Is Too Fond of Books´s last [type] ..Children’s Book Review: *Should I Share My Ice Cream?* by Mo Willems
My girlfriend said she enjoyed this too. I don’t know … I tend not to rush out to Woody Allen movies. And Owen Wilson kind of seems miscast but what do I know?
Jenners´s last [type] ..Mini Reviews: The Bucolic Plague, Gods In Alabama and Ten Degrees of Reckoning
He’s a clueless doofus, but it works.
Haha, oh yes… I feel the pain of the embarrassment for others!
I absolutely think Woody Allen is creepy as well (both physically and because he is married to a woman who he helped raise as a daughter — I’m just sayin’), but I ended up seeing this as well. Totally a reader’s dream, you’re right on. Looooved the idea of the film, but was a little distracted by how much Owen Wilson was acting like a young Woody Allen and Rachel McAdams was acting like a young Diane Keaton (was that just in my head?). Then again, anything that takes place in Paris is pretty much a sealed good-deal for me!
And what about the brownies that Alice was supposed to offer? I don’t get the reference (which probably makes me look stupid right now, but I want to know anyway).
Wallace´s last [type] ..John Adams by David McCullough
The brownies are an obscure reference to The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas (which Stein wrote). Evidently Alice liked to cook up batches of marijuana brownies.
Seriously crazy is right, regarding what Sakura said about Fitz and Hem in A Moveable Feast. I’d like to see this movie very much! I used to have a crush on Woody until the whole Soon-Yi thing.
bybee´s last [type] ..The Help – Kathryn Stockett
This movie sounds so good! I hear you about Woody Allen – creepy just describes him perfectly. Yuck and euuuuwwwwww.
I’m not a Woody fan either but I really enjoyed this movie too. Somehow Owen made it work and I wans’t sure he’d be a ble to. Hemingway was my favorite.
stacy´s last [type] ..Movies that celebrate summer
Oh wow. I didn’t realize that was the premise of the film. What a weird premise! I’m still not sure it’s a good film for me — I am not a fan of that whole expat crowd — but certainly if I ever see a Woody Allen film again (doubtful), this will be the one for me.
Jenny´s last [type] ..Review: Persian Fire, Tom Holland (or, awesome stories)
I saw this the other day, too, and just thought it was charming. I loved Hemingway and Zelda and got a major kick out of Dali and his obsession with rhinos.