Monday, May 25, 2026

Woody Allen Cannes Opener: Love Letter to Paris, Return to Form

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Woody Allen has scored big time this morning with “Midnight in Paris.” His new film is clever, beautiful, and profound. It’s a simple idea, too: the struggle to deal with the present while romanticizing the past. The film is cast perfectly as Owen Wilson plays the yearning screenwriter who — while visiting Paris with his horrible fiancee and her parents –does a little time traveling to the 1920s. There he meets Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and a wildly amusing cast of real life characters. Marion Cotillard is luminous as Wilson’s fantasy lover. A lovely, splendid film with great cameos from Adrien Brody, Kathy Bates, and yes, Carla Bruni. Michael Sheen and Rachel McAdams are fun as Allen stock characters transposed into this situation. Owen Wilson is genial, amusing and most sympathetic ever. More to come.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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