FilmSnobReviews

Title: Paterson
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Starring: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, Method Man
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins

What It Is: A week in the life of fairly uninteresting New Jersey bus driver Paterson as he navigates everyday life with his loving girlfriend Laura (Farahani). We get to see his poetry, his job and we get to enjoy know him. Simplicity is his blessing, he lives without a television or cell phone. Laura herself is simple, living her life likewise. She wants to learn guitar with Esteban and make cupcakes for the bake sale. They are accompanied by their adorable bulldog Marvin.

What We Think: A great character study as per usual from Jarmusch. His scripts are normally so quirky but here he instead just settles with telling the story his way. It is not like Dead Man or his most recent fodder Only Lovers Left Alive. Adam Driver carries the movie on his back and with the strength of a subtle character fueled performance. I also think that Golshifteh Farahani is perfect with Driver in regards to their chemistry. Overall this film is just a pleasant surprise given the overall vanilla premise. That is, for sure a testament to Jarmusch as a writer and director.

Our Grade: B, I’ll be frank when I say that this film is by no means for everyone. In fact, it’d say that a majority of the regular modern audience will not like this film. They’ll probably find the deliberate pacing off-putting and call it “too slow” or “boring”. Trust that it is really neither, instead it’s a poignant look into everyday life. A slice of which we don’t often get to see on the silver screen. Enjoy it whenever you can. Also definitely check out both of Jarmusch’s other films mentioned here. You won’t regret it!