Midnight in Paris

"If I could live anywhere, it would be a night in Paris in the 1920s."

- Gil

Midnight in Paris is a 2011 comedy/fantasy film directed by Woody Allen.

Owen Wilson -- the latest actor to be handed Allen's "screen persona" nebbish character -- plays Gil, a hack but successful Hollywood screenwriter who dreams of writing novels. He and his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) are in Paris to visit her parents; Gil falls in love with the city while Inez dreams of living in a Malibu suburb. One night, as Inez and her friends go out dancing, Gil takes a walk and discovers a magical part of Paris. He continues to travel there, much to Inez's anger and suspicion.

Midnight seems to have joined Match Point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona as one of Allen's more acclaimed later films. It has also seemingly struck a chord with audiences and become Allen's highest grossing film domestically (a title previously held by Hannah and Her Sisters in the 80's) and internationally.

The film became the first Allen film since Hannah that was nominated for Best Picture. Allen also received a Best Director nomination and won Best Original Screenplay.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

Midnight in Paris contains examples of:
"Buñuel: Why can't they leave?"
 * Actor Allusion: Rachel McAdams playing the wife (well, technically fiancee) of a time traveller. Or playing a nasty, blonde girl who cheats on her partner.
 * Marion Cotillard is an emotionally unstable love interest with an unhealthy fixation on other realities, just like Mal in Inception.
 * This also isn't Allison Pill's first troubled relationship with a guy named Scott.
 * An Aesop: the moral of the story is spoken out loud both in the beginning (by Paul) and in the end (by Gil), just in case you didn't get it.
 * Author Avatar: As is customary with Woody Allen films, main character Gil is a stand-in for Woody Allen, from the tucked-in shirts Gil wears to the nervous way Gil talks.
 * Badass Spaniard: Juan Belmonte, the Toreador (bullfighter), at least for Hemingway.
 * Bilingual Bonus: It helps to have a working knowledge of French while watching this film. Spanish could come in handy too.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: Hemingway.
 * Book Ends: The film opens and closes with scenes of Paris in the rain.
 * Born in the Wrong Century: Gil believes that he would have fit in with the writers and artists of 1920s Paris. He gets to go back and find out firsthand. Further, he falls in love with Adriana,
 * Truthfully, this movie is a Deconstruction of the trope. Other characters, past and present, point out how Gil wishes to drown himself in nostalgia. It ties in with the film's overall existential motifs of searching and wandering.
 * Even the characters in France's Belle Epoque wish they were born during the Renaissance. On and on it goes...
 * Kind of Truth in Television with Gauguin, who dreamed of escaping European civilization of his time and ended up in Tahiti.
 * The  tries to follow the car Gil takes but ends up lost in , which would be his "golden age" if the patterns held true.
 * Butch Lesbian: Gertrude Stein is the 1920s version of this trope.
 * It says a lot for a woman's masculinity when Ernest Hemingway has respect for her.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Salvador Dali. Gil is also seen as this by Inez and her parents.
 * Cassandra Truth: Gil tries to tell his fiancee about his experiences, leading her to think he may have a brain tumor. When he tries to tell the surrealists about his coming from the future, they think he's speaking metaphorically.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Gabrielle the antique dealer whom Gil meets earlier in the film
 * Dark Horse Victory:
 * Fan Service: Inez unloading luggage from the car.
 * Gay Paree
 * : Adrianna's "Golden Age."
 * Genre Busting: It's a sci-fi/fantasy/romantic comedy/drama.
 * Happy Rain: Gil loves it when it rains in Paris.  does as well.
 * Quite possibly Author Appeal. This is also brought up in Everyone Says I Love You.
 * Historical In-Joke: In spades.
 * I Choose to Stay:
 * Insufferable Genius: Subverted with Paul (the genius part, not the insufferable part). Inez thinks he's brilliant, but Gil, the female tour guide, and the audience know that he's not.
 * Interrupted Suicide:
 * Doomed by Canon: She'll eventually succeed.
 * In the Past Everyone Will Be Famous: The Movie.
 * It's All About Me: Inez, who doesn't seem to give a rat's ass about anything Gil says or wants.
 * It's Not Supposed to Win Oscars: Gil is a writer of these kinds of films. He hates them, Inez and her parents love them.
 * Jerkass: Inez, her parents, and Paul. They have no qualms about openly ridiculing Gil even in his presence.
 * Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Paul Bates, whom a museum guide refers to as "the pedantic gentleman".
 * Large Ham: Hemingway and Dali.
 * Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's never explained or even discussed how Gil  time travel.
 * Meaningful Name: As with Stardust Memories, a character has the last name of "Bates". Think about it.
 * Most Writers Are Writers: The main character is a writer trying to put the finishing touches on his novel.
 * Noodle Incident: Adrianna tells Gil that she and her friends once hired a prostitute to "teach them what she knew." As a result, Gil seems torn between shock and amusement.
 * Off with His Head:
 * One-Scene Wonder:
 * Adrien Brody appears as Salvador Dali, who is obsessed with rhinoceroses.
 * Almost every artist or writer in this movie is a One-Scene Wonder.
 * Only Sane Man:
 * Gil in the present, seeing how he's the only one who understands what the city of Paris is truly worth. Later,  is revealed to be the Only Sane Woman.
 * In the past, Gertrude Stein (played by Kathy Bates) could count as the Only Sane Woman.
 * And Man Ray, at least when compared with "DALÍ!"
 * Politically-Correct History: All the men in the 1920s treat the women with the same level of respect as other men. If you buy the idea that it's all in Gil's head, then this makes sense as it's his idealized version of the 1920's.
 * The Roaring Twenties: The "Golden Age" for Gil.
 * Rich Bitch: Inez, she first openly complains about Gil's gift to her because it was too cheap, and decides the show her parents how bad it is. She, along with her parents, is shown to have a patronizing view on the working class, going so far as calling Gil out for trying to defend the hotel maid (whom she suspects of stealing from her, and is totally innocent). She also openly admits to as if it's something trivial and is then shocked when he decides to.
 * Scenery Porn: The movie starts with several lovely shots of Paris. Every scene makes Paris look fantastic, both in the past and the present.
 * Small Name, Big Ego: Paul Bates.
 * Smoking Is Glamorous: Zelda and Adrianna.
 * Spoiled Brat: Inez.
 * Stable Time Loop: If it wasn't, wouldn't
 * Not necessarily as Adrianna may have stopped  without help from Gil.
 * Strawman Republican: Inez's Dad.
 * Testosterone Poisoning: Ernest Hemingway.
 * This Is Going to Be Huge: / It Will Never Catch On: Gil gives Luis Buñuel the basic plot of The Exterminating Angel. Buñuel is puzzled.
 * This Is Going to Be Huge: / It Will Never Catch On: Gil gives Luis Buñuel the basic plot of The Exterminating Angel. Buñuel is puzzled.
 * This Is Going to Be Huge: / It Will Never Catch On: Gil gives Luis Buñuel the basic plot of The Exterminating Angel. Buñuel is puzzled.


 * Trailers Always Lie: The trailer deliberately hides the Time Travel aspects of the story, making it seem like Gil has found something contemporary. Reviews and news stories, on the other hand...
 * The trailer also implies the 'disappearance' of the detective following Gil is a major plot point instead of the minor Brick Joke it is in the film.
 * Viewers Are Geniuses: Some of the people Gil meets aren't as well known as others. Knowledge of Luis Bunuel's filmography is required to get one joke in particular.
 * The Wonka: Ernest Hemingway could qualify as one, as would Salvador Dali.
 * Writers Suck: Gil believes this about himself, at least with his screenwriting.