[yasr_overall_rating]
A quiet observation of the triumphs and defeats of daily life, along with the poetry evident in its smallest details.
Independent film, “Paterson,” has moments more poetic than the poetry the protagonist creates in his secret book. This movie, about a small New Jersey town, is an under-achieving rendition of day-to-day boring life. The beauty of monotony and simplicity is cataloged in minute detail. Mind you, I am not a person prone to poetry but, I failed to see the odd sentences displayed in script across the screen as anything more than random thoughts given a fancy name. While the plot eludes me, the characters are lively and intriguing. Waiting for the conflict took well over an hour. By the time the conflict arrived, I was almost catatonic from the dreariness. I can find enough repetition in my life and feel no need to live through someone else’s humdrum existence.
Enter Paterson’s life: Monday – wake up, go to work, eat lunch, write poetry, come home, walk the dog, eat dinner, have a drink at the bar. Lather, rinse, repeat. Paterson shares a name with the town he lives in and works as a city bus driver. His daily excitement comes from the random conversations he is privy to from his seat behind the wheel. Paterson reflects with a pen about the sights out of the large windshield and the snippets of chatter. Nothing about him stands out as unique or extraordinary. He is ordinary in every way except for his determination to remain in the 1980s by banning the chains of electronics. He packs his Stanley steel lunch box every day for his midday meal of solitude by the river. The dullness of his life is only broken by the people he meets and the bulldog who tolerates his presence.
Laura, Paterson’s wife, has enough ambition and personality to fill not just their tiny home but several towns. Her days are filled with painting everything from the floors to the curtains black and white with circles. Unsure of how to settle into the monotony of life as comfortably as her husband, she seeks new activities daily to cure her insatiable goals. In this one week view into the intimate life of this couple, Laura manages to bake black and white patterned cupcakes and learn the guitar in an effort to fill more dreams. Their gruff bulldog steals center stage more often than not, with little effort.
When the plot finally thickens, but not enough to make more than a drippy gravy, Paterson is tempted to pull out of himself the one thing that defines his existence. Life is simple, but if he isn’t a poet then what is he? The conflict quickly resolves; which is necessary as the focus is on the beauty of the day-in-day-out sameness with very little room for change. Paterson is happy to allow his wife to fill his life with new sights and provide no new dynamic to their small lives.
While I would not watch this movie again, I was able to harvest some elements of fascination from the simple existence of strangers. Finding commonalities and patterns (from Paterson) broke the uniformity. The details in the background are what you should pay attention to in this indie movie. Forget the plot. Do not look for conflict and resolution; resolve to find symmetry in spotting twins in each day, finding out what new scheme Laura has planned, and adoring Marvin, the bulldog. Spying on the lives of others from the driver’s seat is in fact as boring as it sounds, but beauty is found in cohesion and metaphor in this film. Finally, the tender relationship between Laura and Paterson is to be envied. While the other relationships in his life are tenuous at best, Laura is his haven. Everyone dreams of the level of intimacy achieved in this script. Adam Driver and the beautiful Golshifteh Farahani, create a palpable empathic power duo worthy of a major motion picture.
Overall, the script left much to be desired in its attempt to force the audience to find a symphony in the unseen. I have no desire to work so hard to be entertained and would prefer some storyline to break up the days. While the couple and the dog were entertaining, this less than comedic version of “Groundhog Day” failed to form any real excitement in my mind. Whatever larger than life message I was supposed to garner from a week in the life of Paterson, was lost on me. I am not sure which is more simplistic, my attention span or the film. Either way, there is enjoyment to be derived from the movie, but I would not watch the film again for fear of not finding the same lackluster enthusiasm for the movie again.
In theaters Friday, January 27th
