Review of Paterson (2016) by Dan H — 22 Jul 2017

A beautiful, simple, poetic film. We follow a week in the life of Paterson (Adam Driver), who is a bus driver in the town of Paterson, New Jersey. He's a pretty swell guy who is perfectly happy with his hum-drum life and enjoys writing poems.

He has a knock-out of a girlfriend, named Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), who is an artistic type and spends most of her time trying to figure out what is the best outlet for her creativity (playing guitar? making clothes? cooking cupcakes?).

She is very supportive and loving. Together, they share a small house and an adorable bulldog named Marvin. During the day, Paterson eavesdrops on various conversations had on his bus. At night, he frequents a bar where he has befriended the bartender, named Doc (Barry Shabaka Henry), and various other customers.

There isn't much of a plot, and the few conflicts that do arise during the run time are fairly small. The film doesn't really go anywhere, but that's kind of the point. Paterson is all about the simple joys of being alive, human, and being happy with what you have.

It's oddly invigorating to just follow around an everyday normal blue collar worker who loves his life. Adam Driver is quite charming and charismatic, he easily and effortlessly carries the film. Golshifteh Farahani is gorgeous and sweet.

They both have great chemistry and make for a very cute couple. The film is also beautifully shot. It's nice sometimes to watch a laid-back, simple, sweet and altogether winsome film and Paterson is exactly that plus more.