I remember enjoying this film immensely when I first saw it and surprisingly I didn't find it nearly as good upon a second viewing.

The good:

- Owen Wilson is someone that I never really cared for but he is perfectly cast here.
- The film is beautiful to look at.
- It's fun to imagine that these legends of the art world were real and as colorful as we hoped they would be.
- You can regularly hear Allen express his philosophy through his characters. In some movies it feels very forced, in this one it felt pretty natural. Having a strong and colorful character like Hemingway probably made this easier - he said this gem: "Nostalgia is the denial of the painful present".
- I recall Allen tackling the idea idea of tradition in other movies (Stardust Memories comes to mind) but not nostalgia. I think the twist with Marion Cotillard's character's feelings about nostalgia towards the end drives home his point.

The not-so-good:

- While the journeys to the past were fun they seemed like a long way to go thematically to get to his point about nostalgia. In some ways the middle of the movie was just a recurring sequence of him going to the past and meeting other famous legends and then returning to the present to be reminded of how much he dislikes it. Again, while this was fun on a superficial level it began to feel somewhat gimmicky. The entire middle section of the film (up until the final meeting with Marion Cotillard's character) could probably have been cut out and it still would have played the same.
- The end of the movie was quick and somewhat awkward.


See my ratings of other Allen movies: - https://ihatebadmovies.com/movie-reviews/?_wpmoly_movie_director=Woody+Allen&_orderby=wp_review_total%2Cdesc

Really nice movie, done with a great delicacy.

Worth watching to get in love with Paris but it is also a great story of self knowledge and evolution.

**Magnificent, it is a love declaration for Paris.**

With this film, Woody Allen makes, in the background, a love declaration for Paris, a city he already knows very well and for which he seems to feel a great affection. In addition to the beauty of the city, especially in the opening sequence, the script revisits the history and importance of the French city, as a meeting point for artists and writers.

The film begins very well, introducing us to an American engaged couple who came to Paris on their father's business trip. From the start they seem a bit strange: she is quite frivolous and seems to feel that she is doing him a huge favor by marrying him, and it is perfectly obvious that her parents do not approve of the match; in turn, the young man is an aspiring writer who has grown tired of making Hollywood screenplays and wants to dedicate himself to writing and stay in Paris, ideas seen with disdain by the bride. However, everything will change when, after a disagreement, he walks back to the hotel and ends up having a meeting with a series of famous artists and writers from Paris in the 1920s: Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Picasso, Dali, Buñuel, Gertrude Stein and others. That is, the film starts from a basic romantic comedy situation and creates a story where time travel ends up happening in a way that seems like the character is just dreaming, or in an illusion.

Owen Wilson was impeccable in the lead role and gives us one of his best serious performances, which is no small feat. He is credible and convincing. Equally pleasant and sympathetic is Marion Cotillard, who gave life to the “soul mate” of Wilson's character, a dreamer and idealist who would rather live on a page of the past. In addition to being smart and sensitive, she is beautiful and attractive. Kathy Bates, Tom Hiddleston, Alisson Pill, Corey Stoll and Marcial Di Fonzo have given life to a series of artists and writers, each of whom played their part with aplomb and care. Rachel McAdams is good at her tiresome and irritating character.

Technically, the film is flawless. The cinematography is exquisite, has ideal light and color, sharpness and depth. The city scenes are magnificent, and it's very easy to see the movie and want it all to be real. The sets are very good, and the same can be said for the choice of filming locations, made with care and method. Comedy is very present in the film and has elements with a certain quality, being in the dialogues and puns that it thrives. The entire film has a very good rhythm, which does not tire the audience or allow us to lose sight of it. Finally, a word of appreciation for the jazz soundtrack.