Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen’s latest feature is as much a love letter to Paris as Manhattan was to its namesake. The opening montage of la Ville-Lumière acclimatises us to the film’s leisurely pace and begins its charm offensive. Meet Gil (Owen Wilson), a successful yet unfulfilled Hollywood screenwriter and his belittling fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) as they court parents and friends in the titular city. Enchanted by his surroundings, Gil departs one evening to wander the streets and gather inspiration. At midnight, thinking himself lost, he is summoned into a vintage car and whisked back to the 1920s.

Like the audience should, Gil simply smiles in disbelief, asks few questions and is rewarded with a whirlwind tour of an early 20th century's who’s who, from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Picasso by way of muse Adriana (Marion Cotillard), from whom he will learn his most valuable lesson. Full of hope and whimsy this loving embrace of romanticism may be slow but it is oh so sweet.