From H.G. Well’s frightening futuristic world to Zemeckis’s ‘Back to the Future’, writers have often imagined the possibilities and consequences of time travel. To varying degrees of success, they have drawn morals, humor, and dilemmas from this idea. Woody Allen, an Academy-award winning icon of the film world, uses this concept to craft a charming and exciting film, full of inside history-and-literature-nerd jokes and allusions.

Released in 2011, this movie stars Owen Wilson along with a star-studded cast including Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni, Michael Sheen, and Rachel McAdams. It is about an hour and a half long, making it the perfect length to view with friends or family in the evening after dinner.

The first three minutes of ‘Midnight in Paris’ feature views of Paris, with short focuses on sites such as the Eiffel Tower and the Champs d’Elysées in succession, and no clear focus on any particular person. The camera cuts from location to location, presenting bright, colorful scenes. As the plotless and characterless scenes continue for some time, one might begin to feel as if the movie were off to a dull start. Au contraire — Allen has just introduced his main character, the city of Paris.

This film follows the lives of an engaged American couple traveling in Paris, and how the city of Paris ultimately splits the two apart. Gil, (Owen Wilson) is a Hollywood hack who is taking a break from screenwriting to try writing a novel. He loves Paris for its literary charm, its romantic history, and its entrancing beauty. Inez, (Rachel McAdams) his fiancée, loves shopping and touristy sightseeing. The two of them inevitably clash early on, as Inez and her parent grow increasingly annoyed with his lack of interest in luxury shopping and his tendency to wander off, wrapped up in the milieu of Paris. Inez’s parents (Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy) also highly object to Gil’s more liberal politics. Gil and Inez, after starting the movie off as lovebirds, grow further apart, until, one evening, Gil leaves Inez who wants to go dancing with her friends, and decides to walk back to their hotel. He is a little tipsy from a wine tasting, so of course he doubts the reality of the 1920’s era car that drives up to him as he stands on the sidewalk.

What follows is Gil’s dream come true — he is transported to a world of 1920’s parisian parties, where he meets the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, Cole Porter, and all the other people he’s always wanted to meet, from what he considers the “best era” of Paris. This event repeats for several nights in a row, resulting in chuckle-worthy moments such as when Gil gives Zelda Fitzgerald Valium in order to stop her from killing herself over jealousy of her husband. He “just knows” that F. Scott is madly in love with Zelda…of course he can’t say why.

One event in particular showcases Allen’s “odd” sense of humor: Gil finally feels the need to reveal his time travel predicament to someone, and his audience just happens to be a coterie of surrealists. What would be the most bizarre and unbelievable idea to most is easily accepted by these people. One can only laugh as Salvador Dali (Adrien Brody), obsesses over his concept of the “rhinoceros!”, with total disregard for Gil’s plight, as the other surrealists drink in every word. (Or perhaps, as a surrealist, this is Dali’s way of expressing sympathy?)

Above: Salvador Dali (Brody)

As Gil and his 20’s romantic interest, Adriana (Marion Cotillard), manage to go even further back in time, to Adriana’s ideal: the “Belle Époque,” we see the predicament of a constant desire to live in another era. The present always seems dull, but has so much to offer, if only we look around to capture it instead of eyeing earlier times as more exciting, more fulfilling. This theme may seem a little worn out, but Allen sets it in such a new and enthralling frame that we can’t blame the characters for moralizing.

Some characterizations pose contradictions in this movie, which causes the moral and outcome to seem a little contrived. Inez criticizes Gil for being dreamy-eyed over Paris, yet she admires another man, Paul, for being “a romantic” who is ‘knowledgable” about French art and history. (Actually, he is very wrong about many of his facts.) And of course, the chance meeting between Gil and the french record store girl who shares his love of Cole Porter at the end of the film is too coincidental to not be an obvious plot set-up. However, when we consider the superb acting done by Owen Wilson in portraying the earnest, good-hearted Gil, and the personalized renditions of historical figures done by the great actors featured, the talent put into his movie balances out the slightly contrived points in the plot. This film follows the workings of Paris, past and present, on Gil, and the incongruities along the way seem inconsequential when viewed in comparison to the fresh comedy and storyline presented.

Ultimately, Allen has created a memorable homage to Paris of all eras. If you want to take a colorful and comic journey through the charming city of light without traveling by airplane and time machine, this movie is for you.