THE DVD SHELF: Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris," Jean Renoir's "Rules of the Game," Plus "Design for Living" and "The Help"

By Steven Suskin
25 Dec 2011

Cover art for "Midnight in Paris"
Cover art for "Midnight in Paris"

Screening Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris"; Jean Renoir's classic "The Rules of the Game"; Ernst Lubitsch and Ben Hecht's overhaul of Noel Coward's Design for Living; and Viola Davis in "The Help."

*

Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris [Sony Pictures Classics] begins with a three-minute travelogue of Paris today, 60 glorious shots filmed by cinematographer Darius Khondji in full and radiant color. Once the clock strikes the telltale hour, though, we get Paris of the past. And Woody Allen of the past, too: the Woody Allen who regularly turned out films like "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan." For viewers who have over the years grown so accustomed to Allen's films that they don't feel the need to actually see them, "Midnight in Paris" comes as a delightful surprise. Woody's back, and Paris has got 'im.

Hemingway's got 'im, more specifically. In an earlier life, Allen's muse was good ol' Humphrey Bogart. Namely in the 1969 comedy Play It Again, Sam, in which Woody — live on stage at the Broadhurst — communed with the spirit of the great Bogey. (The play was made into a 1972 film which was not quite so refreshingly bright.) Sam established the idea of Woody — the characters Woody wrote for himself — communing with his iconic heroes; but your heroes at 34 are not necessarily your heroes at 76.

In Paris, Woody's stand-in — played by Owen Wilson, who doesn't look or act much like Allen but whose line-readings are uncannily like that of the director/author — communes with Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Dali, the Fitzgeralds and more. Plenty more, as it turns out; this is not merely a stunt or a Parisien photo op, but rather a satirical look at culture, cultural icons, and more. Very funny, too, with Allen offering a mix of intellectual, absurdist and belly laughs. Noted with delight is an uproarious gag at the end of the film which takes you all the way back to "Sleeper."

Wilson is joined by one of those large, eclectic casts that Juliet Taylor has been assembling for Allen since "Love and Death" in 1975. Interesting performances come from Kathy Bates (as Stein), Adrien Brody (as Dali), Marion Coutillard (as Picasso's model), Michael Sheen (as a pedantic American), Mimi Kennedy (as a prospective mother-in-law) and Alison Pill (as Zelda with a Z). Also on hand — as Sheen's wife — is Broadway's new favorite Nina Arianda, who didn't rate star billing then but sure does now.

 Continued...