Review of Paranoid Park (2007) by Chase K — 11 Nov 2008

[font=Georgia][color=black][i]Rambow[/i] is genuinely endearing and well-intended, and despite plenty of moments of crazy humor and an outlandish premise it's surprisingly formulaic mixed with a dash of schmaltz. It felt like the British youth answer to [i]Be Kind Rewind[/i], and while I think it's better than that semi-disaster, I wasn't exactly blown away. Child actors are terrific, though, all the way around.[/color][/font].

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[font=Georgia][color=#000000]I'm hardly a Gus Van Sant aficionado (I haven't even seen [i]Good Will Hunting[/i]), but I found [i]Paranoid Park[/i] to be extremely well-done, although a bit gaudy and smug. I dug the docu-style skate scenes and the numerous long shots, but slo-mo was criminally overused here. [/color][/font].

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[font=Georgia][color=#000000]I liked how the mystery of the crime was so underplayed in the first half, and Van Sant's extremely non-linear, time-puzzling narrative mostly worked for me. [/color][/font][font=Georgia][color=#000000]First-timer Gabe Nevins as the troubled skater is pretty good, admirable -- he's playing a very cold, distant zombie of a character, though, and I had a hard time really connecting with him, which is a no-no when sympathy is required. [/color][/font].

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[font=Georgia][color=#000000]Good movie, runs out of steam in last 20 minutes or so, but very well-realized, very indie.[/color][/font].

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