The Thousands

‘Charming’, ‘beguiling’, ‘witty’ and ‘delightful’ spring to mind to describe Woody Allen’s latest film, a vastly enjoyable soufflé of a romantic fantasy about nostalgia. Recalling the gentle social comedy and sentimental magic of Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo, it’s a canny move for a director whose heyday is widely deemed to be long past.

With his wry, bemused patter, affable Owen Wilson makes an excellent Woody stand-in. He’s Gil, a hack screenwriter engaged to Inez (Rachel McAdams) and freeloading in Paris courtesy of her conservative, moneyed parents (Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy). Gil idealises the city’s 1920s bohemia, but Inez finds his dreaming tedious, preferring the pontifications of her show-off friend Paul (Michael Sheen). Things get complicated when Gil is magically transported to the Paris of his dreams, meeting all his heroes… and the gorgeous Adriana (Marion Cotillard).

Midnight in Paris is tremendous fun for art and literature fans who’ll love spotting famous characters. Adrien Brody is a scream as Salvador Dali, and I wish Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) would assess my manuscript. But the film’s greatest achievement is that it indulges our sentimental desire for the past, but also consoles us with the joys of the present.