Midnight in Paris (2011)

I appear to be in a minority when it comes to Woody Allen’s film making in that I’m a really big fan of a lot of his later work. Blue Jasmine (2013) bagged Cate Blanchett a fully deserving Oscar for her performance, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) was a European hopping flight of fancy which I really enjoyed, and Match Point (2005) was Allen nearing his darkly comedic best. Midnight In Paris is my favourite Allen film. It’s easy to identify with Owen Wilson’s Gil, a writer whose love of nostalgia and the past is as affecting as it is understandable, whilst his fiancé Inez (Rachel McAdams) is left frequently exasperated and baffled by his want to walk through Paris in the rain, or more importantly, his mysterious midnight walks through the city. These walks become the story itself, Gil somehow finds himself in 1920’s Paris each night, drinking and dancing among his literary idles; Hemingway and Fitzgerald to name but a couple. Midnight in Paris is light, warm hearted, frequently funny and beautifully judged, leaving anyone who indulges in nostalgia yearning to be Gil’s position, whether it be real or not. 8.7/10