Midnight in Paris (2011)

While on a trip to Paris with his fiancée's family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s everyday at midnight.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates

Won 1 Oscar. Another 24 wins & 101 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Owen Wilson	...	Gil
Rachel McAdams	...	Inez
Kurt Fuller	...	John
Mimi Kennedy	...	Helen
Michael Sheen	...	Paul
Nina Arianda	...	Carol
Carla Bruni	...	Museum Guide
Maurice Sonnenberg	...	Man at Wine Tasting
Thierry Hancisse	...	1920's Partygoer
Guillaume Gouix	...	1920's Partygoer
Audrey Fleurot	...	1920's Partygoer
Marie-Sohna Condé	...	1920's Partygoer (as Marie-Sohne Condé)
Yves Heck	...	Cole Porter
Alison Pill	...	Zelda Fitzgerald
Tom Hiddleston	...	F. Scott Fitzgerald

Storyline

Gil and Inez travel to Paris as a tag-along vacation on her parents' business trip. Gil is a successful Hollywood writer but is struggling on his first novel. He falls in love with the city and thinks they should move there after they get married, but Inez does not share his romantic notions of the city or the idea that the 1920s was the golden age. When Inez goes off dancing with her friends, Gil takes a walk at midnight and discovers what could be the ultimate source of inspiration for writing. Gil's daily walks at midnight in Paris could take him closer to the heart of the city but further from the woman he's about to marry.

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Plot Keywords:

1920s | golden age | back in time | american in europe | time travel romance | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual references and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Facebook [Spain]

Country:

Spain USA France

Language:

English French Spanish German

Release Date:

10 June 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Midnight in Paris

Filming Locations:

16 Rues des Patriarches, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$599,003 (USA) (20 May 2011)

Gross:

$56,816,662 (USA) (16 March 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mediapro, Versátil Cinema, Gravier Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was one of a number of movies that were in competition at the 2012 Academy Awards that was related to France and French culture in some way. The films included The Artist (2011), Hugo (2011), Midnight in Paris (2011), The Adventures of Tintin (2011), Puss in Boots (2011) from the French fairy-tale by Charles Perrault, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) based on the novel by Pierre Boulle and Une vie de chat (2010). Interestingly though, there was no French film nominated for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award (Oscar) in 2012.

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Goofs

In the scene with Dali the bottle of Chateau Haut Brion on the table is of shape not adopted by the property until 1958.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gil: This is unbelievable! Look at this! There's no city like this in the world. There never was.
Inez: You act like you've never been here before.
Gil: I don't get here often enough, that's the problem. Can you picture how drop dead gorgeous this city is in the rain? Imagine this town in the '20s. Paris in the '20s, in the rain. The artists and writers!
Inez: Why does every city have to be in the rain? What's wonderful about getting wet?

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Connections

Referenced in Estrenos Críticos: 03/06/2011 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Si tu vois ma Mère
Music by Sidney Bechet
Lyrics by Sidney Bechet
© Warner Chappell Music France - 1952
Performed by Sidney Bechet
(P)1952 Disques Vogue
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment France

User Reviews

Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen's love affair with France, which goes back decades, finds its finality with "Midnight in Paris," the latest of Allen's Parisian brochures, which recently opened at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. The good news is that Allen seems to be paying attention in a way he hasn't always done in recent films, and has found a way to channel his often-caustic misanthropy, half-comic fear of death and anti-American bitterness into agreeable comic whimsy. The nominal point of "Midnight in Paris" is that we've all got to make the best of life in our own time while longing for a past that probably never existed. If anything, Allen seems to be rebuking himself, ever so mildly, for his compulsive romanticism, his obsession with the past and his disconnection from contemporary American life. Allen has baked us a sweet, airy Parisian dessert with just a sense of sentimental substance in the finish. One of his better films in his latter years.