'Midnight in Paris' a charming lark from famed film-maker
“The artist’s job is not to succumb to despair, but to find an antidote to the emptiness of existence.”
Thus says Gertrude Stein -- sort of.
It’s actually a sentence written by Woody Allen -- and delivered by Stein’s character in his latest film, a light-hearted romp with solid acting and a salutary message.
Indeed, the boffo receipts and strong reviews for “Midnight in Paris” must be due in part to the way this accomplished director -- a fairly despondent guy, despite 42 features and a record 21 screenwriting Oscar noms -- really has made a film that sidesteps despair.
Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams play a mismatched couple vacationing in Paris.
He’s a struggling writer who, wandering the lovely streets one night, is suddenly transported to the 1920s, where he begins rubbing shoulders with his cultural heroes: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, Stein, T. S. Eliot and Cole Porter.
It’s an era he’s always idealized (in fact, he’s writing a book about nostalgia), and Allen uses this fetching storyline to suggest that longing for some “golden era” in the past is not really smart -- a fascinating verdict, in view of the way Allen’s oeuvre reeks with reverence for Gershwin, the Marx Brothers and the glory days of old Manhattan.
Also worth noting is the smoothness with which Allen pulls off his outlandish time-travel conceit. In the first place, he wisely chooses not to explain how it happens, while also making careful use of lighting and music -- wedded to the happy fact that so much of Paris looks just like it did 85 years ago.
Even more useful in this regard is the stable of fine actors Allen has lassoed for this project.
Though he seems about the unlikeliest Allen protagonist imaginable, Wilson is letter perfect in the lead -- equal parts wonderment, sincerity, bemusement and unfailing likability.
Those playing famed personages are similarly stellar, highlighted by Adrien Brody as Savlador Dali (I sure would have liked more scenes with him!) and by Alison Pill and Tom Hiddleston as Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald.
Hiddleston is clearly an actor to watch for; you could hardly imagine a role more different from the vindictive brother he played in last summer’s “Thor” -- yet both performances are virtually flawless.
I also enjoyed the versatile Michael Sheen as the type of intellectual blow-hard Allen loves to skewer in his films.
In addition, “Midnight” frontlines Allen’s usual eclectic soundtrack of jazz, pop and classical, along with a scrumptious montage of Paris street scenes.
Nevertheless, the film’s greatest success is its lesson about not romanticizing the past -- a lesson achieved here without recourse to pedantry, tragedy or self-righteousness.
“Midnight” is a happy film, which surely explains why it is now officially Woody Allen’s most financially successful movie -- ever.
Opening Sept. 9 at the Cinema Center in Williamsport, it remains among the box-office top-20 and has been there longer than any other film now playing nationwide.
Welcome back to Williamsport, Woody.
The film is a mild PG-13 and should probably be rated PG instead.
*** (out of four)
Welcome back, Woody
“Midnight in Paris” caps “unprecedented” career for American director
To the best of my recollection, no Woody Allen film has played a first-run theater in Williamsport since 1989.
True, the Community Arts Center ran a few in recent years -- notably “Scoop” and “Match Point.” But other than that, the local cineplexes never screened any of the nearly two dozen films Allen wrote and directed since “Crimes and Misdemeanors” more than 22 years ago.
On Sept. 9, the Williamsport Cinema Center opened Allen’s latest, “Midnight in Paris” -- a fitting return, as that film is now officially the biggest money-maker of his career; in some places it’s been playing three months.
Starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, the well-received “Midnight” is only the latest in a 42-film career that is unprecedented among living directors.
Having given us comedies, dramas, love stories, thrillers, a musical and a fake documentary, Allen holds a record 21 Oscar nominations for screenwriting.
He’s won thrice, also netting two Golden Globes, 12 BAFTAs (from the British Academy), the O. Henry Award for his short story “The Kugelmass Episode” and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Cannes (Ingmar Bergman is the only other recipient of that honor).
Film scholar David Thomson says, “No one has done more in his time. No director is more recognisable. No movie-maker has been as much of a cultural figure, so beloved and then such a figure of suspicion.”
The “suspicion,” of course, stems from 1992, when Mia Farrow -- Allen’s lover for many years -- allegedly found, in his apartment, nude pictures of her adopted daughter from a previous marriage -- Soon-Yi Previn, who was then 18.
He was 56.
The scandal badly tarnished Allen’s image, though his ensuing marriage to Previn has lasted more than 13 years -- and they have two adopted children.
Sordid personal life aside, Allen has engineered some of America’s finest films: the uproarious “Sleeper,” the award-winning “Annie Hall” and the mesmerizing “Manhattan,” with its gorgeous photography, delicious Gershwin music and captivating performance from Mariel Hemingway.
Here are some of the other actors he’s worked with: William Hurt, Hugh Grant, Ewan McGregor, Tracey Ullman, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, Demi Moore, John Cusack, Will Ferrell, Scarlett Johansson, Adrien Brody, Marion Cotillard, Meryl Streep, Alan Alda, Maureen O’Sullivan, Sigourney Weaver, Angelica Huston, Christopher Walken, Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow, Larry David, Hugh Jackman, Dan Aykroyd, Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Colin Farrell, Bette Midler, Steve Carell, Danny DeVito, Christina Ricci, Sean Penn, Kenneth Branagh, Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, Ian Holm, Blythe Danner, John Houseman, Bebe Neuwirth, Kirstie Alley, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Gene Hackman, Gena Rowlands, Tobey Maguire, E. G. Marshall, Geraldine Page, Sam Waterston, Maureen Stapleton, Stanley Tucci, Edward Norton, Drew Barrymore, Michael Caine, Carrie Fisher, Lily Tomlin, John Malkovich, Madonna, Jodie Foster, Treat Williams, Helen Hunt, George Hamilton, Kathy Bates, John C. Reilly, Fred Gwynne, William H. Macy, Max von Sydow, Cybill Shepherd, Rob Reiner, Uma Thurman, Jeff Daniels, Helena Bonham Carter, Liam Neeson, Michael J. Fox, Julia Roberts, Goldie Hawn, Natalie Portman, Martin Landau and Jackie Gleason.
Born Allen Konisberg in 1935, Allen started out in stand-up comedy; check out his classic “moose routine” on YouTube.
After his experience writing and starring in 1965’s “What’s New Pussycat” -- with Peter Sellers allegedly hogging the best material from his costars -- Allen determined that he needed more control; his first directing job was “What’s Up, Tiger Lily?” -- a spoof in which he redubbed comical dialog over a low-budget Japanese action film.
Though his career peaked about 30 years ago, many of Allen’s later films are well worthwhile: “Sweet and Lowdown,” “Small-Time Crooks,” “Scoop” and “Manhattan Murder Mystery.”
The widely praised “Match Point” (2005) was practically a remake -- without the laughs -- of what some consider Allen’s masterpiece: 1989’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
He also plays the clarinet, performing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on the soundtrack to “Sleeper”; he was famously doing his usual Monday night gig at Michael’s in Manhattan when “Annie Hall” won 1977’s Best Picture Oscar.
In 2002, the director was greeted by a thunderous ovation when he made his first-ever appearance at the Oscars for post-9/11 tribute to Manhattan.
His next project stars Penelope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin and Roberto Benigni.
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