Corkern, M. Midnight in Paris

The movie, Midnight in Paris, stars Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams as a wealthy couple visiting Paris with Inez’s (McAdams) parents. Gil (Wilson) is a writer who is passionate about his work, but as a screenplay writer in Hollywood, doesn’t feel he is taken seriously as a novelist. He is in the midst of writing a novel, based loosely on his own life and desires, but has hit a wall- I think because he doesn’t know himself, therefore cannot fully develop the characters, especially the protagonist, in his novel. He is unwilling to discuss his novel in front of Paul, a friend of Inez's whom she greatly admires, because of Paul's success and intelligence. Gil doesn't have enough confidence in himself to share his writings with others. If his book is a failure, he is a failure. He admires literary greats of the past and aspires to be like them, but his own insecurities stand in his way. Gil feels as though he was born into the wrong era, and longs for the “simplicity” of the life of a Parisian in the 1920’s. One evening, he is magically transported to that decade, and meets with several men and women who have had an effect on him (and many). He spends time with Ernst Hemingway, Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and other writers and artists of the era, and Gil learns about himself, his writing, and even his fiancé. Over the course of several evening rendezvous to the “Golden Age”, he begins to realize that he is not satisfied with his relationship, and though he hasn’t been satisfied with his job for a while, he had been too afraid to leave it to move to Paris and write Novels the rest of his life. Gil finally gains the confidence he desperately needed in order to complete a successful novel. He also comes to learn that every time period will have problems, and no matter what age you live in, some people will long for the “good ole days”, which do not actually exist. Once he figures all this and the fact that his fiancé is cheating on him, he decides to pursue his dream and move to Paris.