The Oscars race is heating up. Do actor Owen Wilson and writer/director Woody Allen have shots at nominations?
You’re probably wondering what Wilson and Allen even have in common. Plenty, now that their 2011 film, “Midnight in Paris,” is available on DVD. Wilson — of “Wedding Crashers” fame — probably is the last person you would expect to see in an Allen film, but the pair is a good match. Wilson plays Gil, a successful scriptwriter vacationing in Paris with his somewhat disagreeable fiancée (Rachel McAdams) and her parents.
As the couple’s ideas of fun seem increasingly mismatched, they split up for the evening and Gil winds up lost. His salvation comes in the form of a car that transports him to Paris of the 1920s.
Gil meets Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), Pablo Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo) and other creative giants of the time. More importantly, he becomes spellbound by a Parisian woman (Marion Cotilliard) with whom both Hemingway and Picasso are in love. Uh-oh.
I don’t think Wilson is in any danger of receiving his first best actor nomination here. However, it is highly likely that Allen will get a best original screenplay nom at this year’s Oscars.
This film definitely is cute. My absolute favorite scene happens when Gil bumps into Salvador Dali, played by the amazing Adrien Brody. It’s pure genius.
Is the rest of the film genius? Like I said, it was cute. It definitely was well made and I’m a fan! I won’t put it on any must-see lists, however.