Most Entertaining Hollywood Movies Set in Paris

Ahh, Paris! With its stunning classic architecture, sparkling monuments, and rich history, it's no wonder the French capital is often featured in Hollywood movies. The industry itself was built on the presentation of dreams, and one of them is to be travel to, walk around, and just see Paris. For many viewers out there, that's the clincher! The moment they spot the Eiffel Tower on screen or see the Arc de Triomphe on the film poster, they'll see the film no matter what. And more often than not, they turn out to be hits. Here are some that many consider the most entertaining.

 

Midnight in Paris

Paris is one of those beautiful cities that you just know has a different side to it. You're not sure where it is, what it is, or how if you'll even like it at all, but for some reason, you feel that it's there. Well, it's that same feeling that Woody Allen touched on in his 2011 film, "Midnight in Paris." Owen Wilsons stars as Gil, an American tourist who goes on a vacation with his fiance and her family before their wedding. A novelist experiencing writer's block, he strolls around Paris after dark, only to find out that certain areas turn back time. Before he knew it, he's in 1920s Paris, socializing with the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernst Hemingway, and more! 

Source: IMDb

 

Before Sunset

Ever been in a deep conversation with somebody that you no longer care where you are, where you're going, or how long you've been waking? It's great, isn't it? Celine and Jesse, two strangers who met at a train and spent an entire night exploring Vienna, Austria, can relate. In the sequel, "Before Sunset," the two travellers meet up once more, this time in the "City of Lights," and talk for hours as if there was never a nine-year gap between the events in the film to  when they first met in "Before Sunrise." What's great about this film is that it's not like a postcard from Paris. It's simply two people walking through the city, a rare Hollywood peek into normal life here. 

Source: IMDb

 

The Da Vinci Code

Murder in the Louvre starts the events of "The Da Vinci Code." Here, Tom Hanks plays Robert Langdon, a symbologist summoned by the Paris police to help solve the crime. What follows is a thrilling 149 minutes of deciphering codes, uncovering hidden secrets, and challenging everything you know about Christianity and religion as a whole. In a race against both time and people out to get them, Robert and Sophie Neveu must travel through Paris and the rest of Europe to figure out the mystery. Though it's important to remember that everything about this film, and the book it was adapted from, are pure fiction, no matter how exciting everything is. 

Source: IMDb

 

Taken

If there's one film you shouldn't see if you're planning to travel to Paris as a single woman, it's "Taken." However, the movie still is an exciting crime thriller about a retired field agent whose daughter gets kidnapped while on a trip to the French capital. Arguably Liam Neeson's most famous film, he is most remembers, even with his decades-old career, with that now-iconic phone scene in which he warns his daughter's captors about what will happen to them if they harm his daughter.   

Source: IMDb

 

Funny Face

If there's ever a film that's like a "postcard from Paris," it's the 1957 classic, "Funny Face." The iconic Audrey Hepburn stars as Jo Stockton, a New York bookstore clerk whose interests mainly involve philosophy and intellectual studies. After the staff of fashion magazine "Quality" ambush her and her Greenwich store—led by screen legends Kay Thompson and Fred Astaire as Maggie Prescott and Dick Avery respectively—she's gets thrown into the crazy world of fashion. All three travel to Paris, where Avery shoots Stockton in a glamorous haute couture photoshoot throughout Paris. Think of the city's most famous monuments and they're highly likely featured in the film! 

Source: IMDb

 

Les Miserables

One of the biggest movies of 2012 was undoubtedly the film adaptation of the classic Broadway musical, "Les Miserables." And what a cast too! Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russel Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, and Helena Bonham Carter all take centre stage in this dramatic musical extravaganza. In fact, Hathaway even won her first Academy Award for her portrayal as Fantine in the film. Arguably, the most fascinating thing about the production is that it's filmed more like an opera rather than a standard movie musical. The songs are just as central to the movie as the dialogue, really driving in the message and emotion of each iconic number. 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

 

Pink Panther

Out of all the comedic Hollywood films set in Paris, 2006 hit, "Pink Panther," is one of the funniest. Steve Martin stars as Inspector Clouseau, a clumsy but well-meaning police officer who gets the case of the lifetime. He was tasked by the Paris police to try to solve the murder of a famous French football coach and to find the missing Pink Panther diamond that he had at the time he was killed. What ensues is a hilarious screwball comedy in which Clouseau, alongside his sidekick, Gendarme Gilbert Ponton, gets into all sorts of situations and trouble whilst trying to solve the case. 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

 

Forget Marion Cotillard or Catherine Deneuve, Paris is France's most beloved Hollywood movie star. The city has starred in countless films from Tinsel Town, many of which became blockbuster hits and even won a couple of esteemed accolades.