Midnight in ParisMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 81 out of 100 Universal acclaim Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 OK for kids 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    A movie that's loving and wistful and often hysterically funny. Read full review

  • 90
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    In Woody Allen's beguiling and then bedazzling new comedy, nostalgia isn't at all what it used to be - it's smarter, sweeter, fizzier and ever so much funnier. Read full review

  • 90
    The Hollywood Reporter | Todd McCarthy

    Darius Khondji's cinematography evokes to the hilt the gorgeously inviting Paris of so many people's imaginations (while conveniently ignoring the rest), and the film has the concision and snappy pace of Allen's best work. Read full review

  • 88
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Carrie Rickey

    Midnight in Paris is not a perfect movie - as in "Julie & Julia" one senses its creator's impatience to leave the bleached-out present for the colorful past. But it is warm and effortless, qualities that make it embraceable. Read full review

  • 88
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    What's fresh about Midnight in Paris is the way he (Allen) identifies with Gil's idealization of the past, of the Paris that represented art and life at their fullest. Read full review

  • 80
    New York Daily News | Joe Neumaier

    As in "Purple Rose," the film works best when tweaking the disparate worlds thrown together, though "Midnight" is frothier, and so Wilson shines. Read full review

  • 75
    NPR | Ella Taylor

    But lo! Isn't that Owen Wilson, blond and goyische to the gills, yet faithfully replicating the put-upon slump of the Allen shoulders, the quavering stammers about art vs. success, literature vs. Hollywood? Read full review

  • 75
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    A sweet-natured trifle, as flavorful and as thin as a crepe. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    The familiar dialogue here makes one long for something closer to the edginess of "Manhattan" or the offbeat humor of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Read full review

  • 75
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Allen has fun in his imaginary French capital, turning his star-studded cast loose to interpret their characters as they wish. Read full review

View more reviews for Midnight in Paris on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 14+ Jaunty romcom mines adult themes of marriage and career.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this imaginative romantic comedy, which represents a return to form for master filmmaker Woody Allen, includes some thematic material -- infidelity, professional boredom -- that may be too mature for younger teens. But given the movie's charming journey back to historic Paris and its lack of anything specifically risque, older teens may get a kick out of it. (Think of it as a witty history lesson.) There's smoking and drinking -- champagne, wine, and bourbon, especially in scenes depicting the roaring '20s.
  • Families can talk about why so many movies, especially romantic ones, take place in Paris. What's the allure? Do films like this set up an unrealistic expectation of both Paris and love?
  • Many of Allen's movies examine a certain type of boredom that besets relationships. What do they say about relationships in general and, specifically, about the lulls and doubts that inevitably set in?
  • Are you familiar with any of Allen's early work? Which filmmakers have stood the test of time?
The good stuff
  • message true2 Positive messages: True joy comes in finding something you love and actually doing it and through questioning it in the process. Also: Relationships that don't affirm your essence have an uphill climb. In short, pick someone who can share your bliss.
  • rolemodels true1 Positive role models: He may be meandering in disposition, but there's something to admire in a guy like Gil, who still holds hope for love and all that dreamy jazz.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence: No violent scenes; some talk of bull fighting and war.
  • sex false1 Sexy stuff: Couples flirt and kiss. An engaged man declares his interest in a woman who's not his fiancee. A woman admits to infidelity. Discussion about how one character has slept with many men.
  • language false1 Language: Infrequent use of words like "hell" "damn," and "oh my God."
  • consumerism false1 Consumerism: Some high-end labels, like Dior and Chopard, are seen on shopping bags and such, and they imply one family's wealth.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some of the characters date back to the gin- and bourbon-soaked 1920s, and they're shown swilling their nights away. One character is so inebriated that she threatens to drown herself. Several characters smoke.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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