Midnight in Paris

In this fanciful, time-travel fable, writer-director Woody Allen ruminates on the concept of nostalgia: that bittersweet longing for idealized things, persons, or situations in the past. Successful but insecure Hollywood screenwriter Gil (Owen Wilson) is in Paris, working on his first novel. His protagonist runs a memorabilia shop and, like Gil, wishes he'd lived in the 1920s, the unabashedly romantic era reflected in Cole Porter's music. One night, as Gil walks back to the hotel after dining with shrill fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her bourgeois parents (Mimi Kennedy, Kurt Fuller), an extraordinary thing happens: as the clock strikes midnight, a vintage Peugeot pulls up carrying a festive young couple: Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Alison Pill, Tom Hiddleston), who invite him to a party. This magical realism twist leads to the most amazing evening of Gil's life, as he hobnobs with cultural and artistic giants, along with lovely damsel Adriana (Marion Cotillard), who herself yearns for the Belle Époque. Eager to repeat the incredible experience, Gil returns to the same street night after night. Charming, shaggy Wilson epitomizes Allen's idealistic, self-absorbed sensibilities, and the illusion-versus-reality concept evokes the filmmaker's earlier The Purple Rose of Cairo. The rest of the cast is also superb, particularly Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein, Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway, and Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali (also look for a cameo by France's first lady, Carla Bruni, as a Rodin Museum tour guide). Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Midnight in Cannes” cast and crew interview (5 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a photo gallery, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a small extras package for a winning film.] (S. Granger)