Review of Paranoid Park (2007) by Eliasib L — 16 Feb 2009

MILK: Despite the tragic ending, [I]Milk[/I] is one of the most inspirational, optimistic films of the year. The true-life story is something that, to be honest, I knew little about coming in - but it's a very fascinating story brought beautifully to life by Gus Van Sant's direction. However, as touching as the story may have been, I felt a little bit disconnected to [I]Milk[/I], and ultimately underwhelmed. There's little done here, aside from a few artistic flourishes from Van Sant, that distinguishes [I]Milk[/I] from the pack of biopics. It's a fairly interesting take on a fascinating true story that never completely sprang to life for me - I rarely was completely gripped or involved by these characters, instead merely watching from a distance. In fact, some of the best moments are the small, subtle ones - one scene that is especially touching involves a phone call between Milk and a stranger who was inspired by him.

Another much-buzzed aspect of [I]Milk[/I] that left me slightly cold is the performances. Sean Penn and especially Josh Brolin are undeniably good, but nothing about their performances was particularly gripping to me. I thought that James Franco delivered the best performance of the film, creating a clearly-defined character with little screentime. This has been an excellent year for Franco - in both this and [I]Pineapple Express[/I], he has proved that he can tackle both comedy and drama extremely well.

I'm not trying to say that I disliked [I]Milk[/I] on any level - I actually liked it quite a bit - I just was underwhelmed by it, and am not nearly as impressed by the film or the performances as many have been. Still, it is undeniably a good film with its heart in the right place, and worth seeing for the inspirational story it tells.

PARANOID PARK: Gus Van Sant's other film of 2008, and unlike [I]Milk[/I], [I]Paranoid Park[/I] received little attention and slipped quietly between the cracks. A shame, because [I]Paranoid Park[/I] is a quiet, haunting film that deals with horrible subject matter in a beautiful, fascinating way. The central murder mystery is actually very disturbing and sad, but the gentle, warm presentation of the characters and the excellent cinematography and soundtrack make it a strangely enjoyable watch. I also loved the representation of skater culture, and of teenagers in general - it felt much more accurate and genuine than almost any other film I can think of. All-in-all, [I]Paranoid Park[/I] is a sad but also beautiful study of a guilty, confused teen that happens to be one of the best surprises of 2008.