Director: Jim Jarmusch
Year Released: 2016
Rating: 2.5
A bus driver in Paterson, New Jersey (Adam Driver) - who just so happens to be named Paterson - wakes up next to the love of his life Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), puts on his watch, eats, does his job, returns home and eventually walks his bulldog Marvin (which is just an excuse to stop by the local bar for a quick beer). It's fine that Jarmusch is exploring the Everyday Existence of a Blue Collar Worker and how that individual 'captures' his world in his art (in this case, poetry), but he also commits the crime of not just reciting the poems but actually writing them onscreen (appreciation levels will vary) and stages clumsy interactions with Paterson and random strangers that go against the sense of 'naturalism' (the little girl - with a twin sister - talks Emily Dickinson, the Japanese tourist just happens to have a copy of William Carlos Williams' Paterson on hand, the Moonrise Kingdom kids have turned into Commies). One could argue Paterson's leaving the book of poems out for Marvin to devour was an intentional move - to avoid publication, to keep the thoughts private and hide them from Laura - but it could just be the dog is a stubborn critic. Excuse me ... A-ha! No: Ho-hum.
