Paterson (2016) - Bus driver poetry drama a small gem

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+ Best New Jersey Movie of the Year

 

Lots of scribbles and a dramatic love-uttering tag-line lies around the sleeping couple on this poster for Jim Jarmusch's Paterson

 

Paterson is a bus driver and part-time poet in Paterson, New Jersey. His Iranian-American wife wants him to deliver his works in public, but he is more private about them.

 

Paterson is written and directed by Ohioan master filmmaker Jim Jarmusch (Permanent Vacation (1980)), with William Carlos Williams (The Term (2003, short)) and Ron Padgett contributing poems. It is Jarmusch's 13th feature.

Production-wise likely Jarmusch's smallest venture in years, Paterson is also his first good film since Broken Flowers (2005). In Paterson he seems to have created an alter ego following the line of thought; if I hadn't become X (a filmmaker), what else might I have ended up as? (A bus driver/poet apparently.) On the surface one might find it a bit grating that a bus driver in himself is not interesting enough, - that one of everyday life's heroes in this way only seems to 'exist' in Jarmusch's world, if they also produce art just as himself. But this is really more related to Jarmusch's own passion for everything creative than a statement of the real world and its inhabitants.

If you care for poetry, this will ramp up your enjoyment of Paterson, which may otherwise seem small and dull. Adam Driver (House of Gucci (2021)) is good but almost too handsome for the title role of the good and supportive husband, and Golshifteh Farahani (Extraction II (2023, VoD)) is sweet as his cupcake-baking love. Barry Shabaka Henley (A Star Is Born (2018)) is delightful in a supporting role as an honest bar owner. 

Paterson is undeniably smaller than the greatest of Jarmusch's heyday (Dead Man (1995) and others), but nevertheless a good one.

 

Related posts:

Jim Jarmusch: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) - Jarmusch's drowsy vampires, an overrated bore

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

The Limits of Control (2009) - Jarmusch hits career low with idea-bereft embarrassment 
Broken Flowers (2005) - Hip search for son and self with Jarmusch and Murray
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) - Pleasant, precious vignette sit-down with some wonderful people    
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) - Whitaker serves ancient samurai justice in Jarmusch's cool treat   

1995 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Dead Man (1995) - Jarmusch's bold, poetic, rich Americana masterpiece 
Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Down by Law (1986) - Jarmusch's jailbreak movie is an independent character gem 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 5 mil. $

Box office: 10.7 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.14 times its cost)

[Paterson premiered 16 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 118 minutes. Driver reportedly took a commercial bus driver's license for the part. Shooting took place in the Fall of 2015 for 30 days in New York and New Jersey. The film opened #36 to a 69k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #32 and in 70 theaters (different weeks), grossing 2.1 mil. $ (19.6 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 2nd biggest market. The biggest was France with 2.7 mil. $ (25.2 %) and 3rd biggest was Poland with 878k $ (8.2 %). The film lost the Palme d'Or to I, Daniel Blake. Jarmusch returned with Gimme Danger (2016, documentary) and theatrically with The Dead Don't Die (2019). Driver returned in Silence (2016); Farahani in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). Paterson is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Paterson?

The Goldfinch (2019) - Stars gleam in affected Crowley adaptation mishap

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+ Career-Killer of the Year: John Crowley 

 

Young co-star Oakes Fegley in a jump in black space outlines this striking poster for John Crowley's The Goldfinch

13 year-old Theo gets taken in by a wealthy New-Yorker family, after his mother dies in a terrorist attack in an art museum. Theo goes on to have an unusual adolescence.

 

The Goldfinch is written by Peter Straughan (Sixty Six (2006)), adapting the same-titled 2013 novel by Donna Tartt (The Secret History (1992)), and directed by Irish master filmmaker John Crowley (Intermission (2003).

An impressive cast, - including but not limited to Nicole Kidman (Happy Feet (2006)) as the adopting mother and Jeffrey Wright (Monster (2018)) as an antique specialist/mentor to Theo, - lures, along with a plush production, into this literary universe. Theo meets us first as an incredibly depressed-looking teenage boy, (played by Oakes Fegley (Boardwalk Empire (2014, TV-series))), who is into classical literature and art (...), but Fegley later proves livelier and capable enough in scenes in Nevada. Here he has good scenes with Finn Wolfhard (It (2017)) and Luke Wilson (Henry Poole Is Here (2008)) and Sarah Paulson (Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)), the latter two good as his bad father and his unappealing girlfriend. Ansel Elgort (Allegiant (2016)) does alright as the adult Theo, when the story takes a turn and becomes odder: Kidman speaks mysteriously to her now adult Theo, who was in her care for a very short period of time, and she talks to him as if they enjoyed many years together. 

Aneurin Barnard (Thirteen (2016, miniseries)) is a looker, but the story, which now circles around a stolen painting of the titular goldfinch, and their mission to steal it back, never becomes successful for the third act of the long film. The Goldfinch nevertheless still has plenty of drama and interesting performances to keep my attention perched over it.

Related posts:

John Crowley: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

Brooklyn (2015) - Ronan captivates in Crowley's exquisite, soaring period romance drama masterpiece 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 44-49 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 9.9 mil. $

= Box office disaster (returned between 0.22 - 0.20 times its cost)

[The Goldfinch premiered 8 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 149 minutes. Wolfhard was paid 65k $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place in New York, New Mexico and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from January - April 2018. A test screening 6 months prior to the release gave theatrical distributor Warner Bros. fears the film might bomb, and its marketing budget was consequently cut "dramatically." It opened #8 to a 2.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 5.3 mil. $ (53.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 1.1 mil. $ (11.1 %) and the UK with 0.9 mil. $ (9.1 %). Crowley is returning with TV-series Life after Life and does not have an announced feature in the pipeline yet. Fegley returned in The War with Grandpa (2020); Elgort in Tokyo Vice (2021, TV-series) and theatrically in West Side Story (2021). The Goldfinch is rotten at 25 % with a 4.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Goldfinch?

Manchester by the Sea (2016) - Heavy stuff in Lonergan's Big Drama

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+ Best Massachusetts Movie of the Year 

 

Two star actors in an emotional moment by a waterfront surrounded by seagulls make up this poster for Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea

A janitor with a terrible tragedy behind him is tasked with taking care of his late brother's teenage son.

 

Manchester by the Sea is written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count on Me (2000)).

It is a potent, heavy drama about unbearable loss, guilt and the life around a situation like this, (which always moves on perfectly disregarding those personal facts.)

If audiences are out of sync with the story, the film's funereal score will let us know, where we are. And the Massachusetts locale adds an evocative setting to the almost epic drama, which centers around a protagonist, who seems to go in a circle around his past as well as major emotional outbreaks. - SPOILER Instead he explodes in unmotivated violence in bars from time to time, (as a true Irish Catholic?) Casey Affleck (Drowning Mona (2000)) inhabits the character, and yet there is still something about the actor's cool expression that rubs me the wrong way. Young Lucas Hedges (Honey Boy (2019)) as Patrick, the teenage son, is really good, and Michelle Williams (Deception (2008)) is masterly in a supporting part. Gretchen Mol (Celebrity (1998)) is also fine as the overly nervous, alienated mother to the boy.

Manchester by the Sea is a worthwhile, heavily loaded drama with an open ending, a dose of implicit humor and the trace of hope.

 

Related post:

 

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 9 mil. $

Box office: 78.9 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 8.76 times its cost)

[Manchester by the Sea premiered 23 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 137 minutes. Lonergan has said of his motivation for writing and making the film;
"Some people can't get over something major that's happened to them at all; why can’t they have a movie too?" Matt Damon was initially supposed to star. Shooting took place in Massachusetts from February - May 2015. Amazon bought the US distribution right to the film for 10 mil. $ at Sundance. The film opened #21 to a 256k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #6 and in 1,213 theaters (different weeks), grossing 47.6 mil. $ (60.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 4.5 mil. $ (5.7 %) and France with 3.2 mil. $ (4.1 %). The film was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning for Best Original Screenplay and Actor (Affleck). It lost Best Picture to Moonlight, Supporting Actor (Hedges) to Mahershala Ali in Moonlight, Supporting Actress (Williams) to Viola Davis in Fences and Director to Damien Chazelle for La La Land. It also won 1/5 Golden Globe nominations, 2/6 BAFTAs nominations, an AFI award, was nominated for a César award and a David di Donatello award, won 1/5 Independent Spirit award nominations, 4 National Board of Review awards, and countless other honors. Lonergan has not announced another feature since. Affleck returned in The Finest Hours (2016); Williams in Certain Women (2016); and Hedges in Pigeonhearts (2017, short) and theatrically in Lady Bird (2017). Manchester by the Sea is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.82/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Manchester by the Sea?