Owen Wilson steps out of his feel-good-comedy comfort zone and into a zone we didn’t even know existed. This is his career move. Gil (Wilson) is in romantic writer visiting Paris with his materialistic fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams). She should win the Oscar for her many annoyances. Gil wants strolling in the rain, melancholy walks on the Seine, but she wants black sedans and George V boutiques. He bumbles about – a successful Hollywood screenwriter longing to write his first great novel. He references every great writer of the 20th century in every conversation he has with Inez, and even wishes he lived during the 1920s. Inez won’t hear of it, instead smitten with her college Professor (Michael Sheen) who is also in Paris giving a lecture. Gil calls him a ‘Pseudo Intellectuals” even though the Professor is a walking encyclopedia, speak several languages, an expert dancer and wine connoisseur.
One night at midnight, a lost-soul Gil ends up on the stairs at the base of Montmarte. A vehicle pulls up to the curb and the group from within the car beckon Gil to join them. Part Back to the Future and part Somewhere in Time Gil suddenly finds himself getting a taste of what life would have been like when he’s hanging with the likes of Cole Porter (Yves Heck) and even F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston). And they come with friends – Gertrude Stein (hilarious performance by Kathy Bates) in the middle of an argument about art with “Pablo” – as she calls him – Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo.) Now Gil is smitten with a world we all can only dream of and he finds himself returning for a second night. This time a nightcap – mixing grains and grappa – with whom else… Ernest Hemmingway (Corey Stoll). And with Hemmingway comes his thoughts and opinions on boxing, war and women, namely having the “hots” for Picasso’s girl and muse Adriana (Marion Cotillard). Adriana is a dear friend of Coco Chanel’s, living in Paris in hopes of becoming a costume designer. Gil finds himself part of the threesome love affair, pining for Adriana while Gertrude Stein is busy giving him notes on his novel.
As Gil’s self-esteem rises and he rearranges his ever growing dignity, he learns to confront his ordinary daytime life, challenging the Professor on quotes, thoughts, and philosophies because he’s actually living what the Professor can only know from history books. There’s a hilarious scene with real life wife of the French President, Carla Bruni, as a museum guide at the Rodin, and Gil explaining his vision of a Picasso painting because afterall, he’s just BEEN with Picasso who explained it to him! T. S. Eliot appears as do many other notaries and then there’s Salvador Dali (a well-cast Adrien Brody) arguing it out with Man Ray (Tom Cordier.)
But when Degas, Gaugin and Lautrec begin to appear, we realize Gil is now in the Belle Epoque era, a time that his beloved Adriana longs for. Soon Gil comes to terms with the fact that perhaps the best time of our lives is the present. A brilliantly written and directed film by Woody Allen who gets the best performances possible out of this cast of characters. Four tiaras