Director: Woody Allen
Year Released: 2011
Rating: 2.0
A struggling writer (Owen Wilson) - a common Allen character - and his aggressive fiancé (Rachel McAdams) go on a trip to Paris, but by chance the struggling scribe boards a Mystery Jitney to Ol' Timey Paris When the Clock Strikes Twelve, wherein he rubs elbows with caricatures of famous people (Picasso, Papa, the Fitzgeralds, Toulouse-Lautrec, you get the idea). It was so much nicer in Allen's other films when he would have his characters name drop dead poets; now he's actually resurrecting them, which turns this into the Genius Show, and with the geniuses played either by excellent look-alikes or by well-known actors (Adrien Brody tries his hand at Dalí, Kathy Bates nails Stein). I like Allen's thesis - we live in the time we're supposed to live in - but this is Cameo Theatre with Wilson's relationship issues basically an afterthought. Allen's impressed with his concept and thinks you should be too. There is a cool Exterminating Angel gag in there, though (Buñuel's confusion over the idea makes it even better).
