One of the biggest delights of the year for me was Corey Stoll’s performance as Ernest Hemingway in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.” I had a giant grin on my face, ear to ear, the whole time he was on screen. So I’m glad David Poland dedicated one of his long-form interviews to the actor.
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12 responses to ““You don’t want the opinion of another writer.””
Absolutely. For me, it was him and Alison Pill who stole a lot of the scenes they were in (though I can see how some might not have liked the more broad strokes of Pill’s role). I don’t think anyone will disagree that the scenes set in the past were a lot more effective than those set in the present.
Definitely one of my favorite performances of the year so far. Have people been talking about this performance, Kris? I’d like to think if it happened for John Hawkes last year, it could very well happen for Stoll here.
Totally agree. I think Hemingway is one of the greatest writers in the history of the English language and one of the most interesting people in human history. I actually am generally not a Woody Allen fan, but Midnight in Paris might be my favorite movie of the year thus far. Writing Hemingway as he may have written himself was a stroke of genius and Stoll really nailed the stylization
SPC should totally push for him instead of Cotillard.
@will Agree with you there on Pill. She was a delight. Woody certainly liked her work as she’s back for the currently shooting Rome project, sharing scenes with Woody himself and Judy Davis. Can’t wait for that.
Brilliant I say.
Here here! Let me second the motion. For me Stoll’s performance stands out above all from this cast. Oscar voters should remember him when it comes time to cast ballots.
He stole every scene he was in, and is the most memorable actor from a film that contained a lot of talent. I truly do hope he receives some sort of award recognition, not just because the performance was worthy but because I’d like him to receive anything that helps him gets more roles.
This interview was great by the way, he seems like a very genuine and modest individual.
Hands down one of my favorite performances of the year too. There’s a lot of love for him here, but I sadly don’t expect voters to give him that love.
His Hemingway was smart, amusing, and even quite sexy if that’s worth anything. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Stoll, and hopefully this role will get him more.
I’m curious, what’s everyone’s take on Owen Wilson’s performance? Personally I felt that he was quite good and his performance was more than just another vairation on his typical characters.
I think he’s the best Woody-surrogate figure yet, largely because he marries his own, more laidback brand of neurosis to Allen’s writing, rather than trying to “do” an Allen character.
As Guy said it is a better mesh of Wilson/Allen than any of the previous collaborations: Biggs/Allen, Ferrell/Allen, David/Allen. Adding neurosis to a riddled character is just redundant.
I’ve always thought Mia as Woody in Alice was by far the best, with Cusack in Bullets a pretty good runner-up.