In fairness, I loved Midnight in Paris even before I saw it, because it has Van Gogh on the poster. I was biased.
But then I loved the movie too. It's a little bit wacky to describe, but I'll try. Here goes: Gil (Owen Wilson) and his super-annoying fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams) are in Paris. He loves it; she wants to go back to California. He can't stop imagining the wonder that must have been Paris's golden age: the 1920s. One night as he's wandering alone, he is mysteriously transported to the 20s. He meets Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds, Gertrude Stein, and other literary idols of his. While there, he also meets a lover of Picasso's, and it's her opinion that Paris in the 1890s was the best of times: the Belle Epoque. Together, they go there. In between these nightly adventures back in time, Gil returns to the present day, and to his deteriorating relationship with Inez.
I'm not a Woody Allen connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. I think the only other movies of his I've seen are...well, I'm not actually sure I've seen any of his other movies. But I think this was a good one to start with. The main theme is so obvious that Gil comes right out and says it near the end, in not so few words: "everything else is always something better."
And it's hard when you feel that way. On the other hand, it's easy to love Gil's romantic notions of the city. It's just that he needs to learn to accept the vibrant, romantic City of Light as it is now, rather than 90 years ago.
There were a few points when I felt like the characters were just making obscure cultural reference so Woody Allen could show off how superior he is, and that was a bit annoying, but really it's my only complaint.
Bottom line: if you like cities, or Paris/France/Europe, or art and literature, you should definitely see this.
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