In his 41st movie (and possibly one of his best) Woody Allen treats us to a wonderful homage to two of his great loves : the city of Paris, and great American cultural icons of the last century. It’s a delightful tale of Gil, a Hollywood screenwriter who yearns to forsake his highly successful life so that he can write a ‘great novel’ instead. He’s on a family trip to Paris with his fiancée Inez and her parents and all they want to do is plan a wedding and buy a big house back in Malibu where Gil can keep churning out scripts and they can live happily ever after. One night a frustrated Gil gets lost wandering around Paris on his own and sitting on some church steps, a vintage Peugeot limousine pulls up with some revelers who entice him to join their gallivanting, The first party they swing by is hosted by THE Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, and as he meets more of the other guests, he eventually realizes that his is actually back in the Jazz Age of the 1920’s.
Mr. Allen is obviously in his element as he whirls Gil through countless meetings with all the great writers and artists of that period (although some have still yet to establish their reputations that we now know them by) and it is a sheer joy to watch. Its tough blogging this without spoiling the whole plot, so I’ll give no more specific details other than to say the piece is a prefect vehicle with great cameo roles for a whole roster of major actors (my favorite was Adrian Brody who totally caught Salvador Dali’s inspired eccentricity).
As Gil’s nightly escapades retreating to the past continue, his daily life in the present time gets increasingly tense as it heads to its inventible conclusion. The theme that Mr. Allen pursues in the movie is that many of us daydream and wish to be in another life in different time and Gil, lucky fellow, get to try his out.
In a different age, Gil would have obviously have been played by Mr. Allen himself, but thankfully its been superbly cast with Owen Wilson making this very much his part … and really stealing the whole show. Poor Rachel McAdam doesn’t have much to get her teeth into paying Inez the frustrated fiancé, but the delectable Marion Cotillard so lights up the screen as Adriana, who was Picasso’s mistress who falls hook line and sinker for Gil.
Mr. Allen quite rightly doesn’t even attempt to explain the time travel aspect of his story. He just focuses on the fantasy that that we all have for nostalgia. And if like me you that would include Mr. Allen’s early movie masterpieces, then you will be happy to see now in this present age, he is back to form.
★★★★★★★★★
Click for Trailer
Posted by queerguru at 00:00
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