Est Très Bien!

     Gil (Owen Wilson), the spacey Hollywood screenwriter in Midnight in Paris, dreams of two things -- publishing a novel involving Paris in the '20s and living in 1920s Paris while he does it.  However, his fiancé Inez (Rachel McAdams, as selfish and bossy as she was in Mean Girls) finds his obsessions pointless and annoying, which she makes increasingly clear while she and Gil, along with her parents, vacation in Paris.  When Gil and Inez run into Inez's old friend Paul (Michael Sheen) and his wife, and Gil finds himself unwillingly thrust into a trip for the four of them, full of Parisian tours dominated by Paul's "expertise" on every subject.  Preferring to write or walk the streets, Gil opts out of many of these activities and doesn't recognize Inez drifting away from him and closer to Paul.
     Lost on a midnight stroll, Gil accepts a ride from drunk strangers in a antique car and is promptly escorted into the 1920s, where he soon meets Ernest Hemingway.  Hemingway agrees to have his publisher, Gertrude Stein look over Gil's book.  Gil returns with his novel the next night, he takes it to Ms. Stein's house.  There he encounters Pablo Picasso and his mistress Adriana.  Charming and beautiful, Adriana captures Gil's heart as he returns night after night to this past fantasy.
     Through music, still pictures, and subtle filming, director Woody Allen depicts a Paris that is sentimental and nostalgic, cozy and cosmopolitan, fun-loving and romantic, graceful and elegant.  I loved how there were credits at the beginning of the movie on a black screen, giving the film an old-fashioned vibe.  After the credits were finished, the screen was just black, and you heard Gil and Inez talking for a little bit before the picture appeared, leaving your imagination to wonder and wander.  The result of this beautifully represented image of Paris?  An original and lighthearted comedy that's almost as good as the city itself.