Woody Allen's track record in recent years has been spotty. The writer/director pumps out a new film every year and it's caused the quality of the films to go from Oscar-worthy ("Match Point," "Vicky Cristina Barcelona") to forgettably dull ("Scoop," "Whatever Works") in the drop of a hat. When he's on, he's on. When he's off...he can be way, way off.
The trailer for his new film "Midnight in Paris" has premiered on Yahoo and frankly, it could easily go either way. Continuing his European world tour (London, Spain and now France), "Paris" stars Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who travel with McAdams' parents to the French capital to soak up the sights and enjoy themselves.
When they run into a friendly, pseudo-intellectual Brit (played by Michael Sheen), McAdams is sucked into the cultural world of Paris while Wilson is left in the dust. That is, until he ventures out alone one evening, seemingly discovering a magical world underneath the surface of the city.
Allen is no stranger to the supernatural -- "Match Point" and "Scoop" both exist in very real worlds while finding a way to squeeze ghosts into the plot -- and "Midnight in Paris" looks to continue that fascination. What Wilson finds on his lonely walk is the Paris we'd all love to unearth: music, dance, old timey costumes and plenty of romantic ideas. Allen seems to have found a way to combine the "real" Paris with the one we all wistfully dream of and the results look fluffy and fun. Whether it will all click in end is the spin of the wheel we take with every one of Woody's pictures -- they're hard to resist!
"Midnight in Paris" is set to open the Cannes Film Festival on May 11, then make its way stateside in limited release on May 20.
