Paterson 2016
When I was in 9th or 10th grade our literature class covered William Carlos Williams. It was amazing to me that you could write something very short, with no rhyming, and call that a poem. So I started writing poems too, sort of as satire, but also just seeing what I could do with such an open format. After high school I stopped writing poems, but it was neat to see a story about a guy inspired by William Carlos Williams who writes in that style. I remember hearing about Paterson on NPR, but never got around to seeing it despite very good reviews. I had a chance to borrow a digital copy using a Screen Pass, enticed by the really high ratings (96% on Rotten Tomatoes, 90 on Metacritic), but one has to be careful with movies in the 90’s like this. In animation there is a “uncanny valley” where animated human beings are likeable as caricatures, but as they are drawn closer to real human form, they can get creepy, before becoming almost indistinguishable from real humans when they become likeable again. I think something similar happens with movie reviews, where I generally like critically acclaimed movies up to about 80 or 90 and then it drops way off. But it is more of a cliff than a valley, because there is no guarantee I will like a movie even if it gets 100% on Metacritic (looking at you, Boyhood). I felt similarly watching Paterson, a very slow moving and repetitive movie, even though it has its own artistic flair (directed by art house darling Jim Jarmusch). The people in the movie aren’t quite normal. They don’t talk much, socialize to any degree, or even pet their dog. There is a soundtrack and a style of shooting that makes you think there is an underlying or upcoming tragedy (nothing bad happens to the dog, always a big worry for me). Because it is such a slow moving movie, I took attention deficit breaks which only made it seem even longer and slower. I watched it over a period of two nights and it might have been longer except my Screen Pass was about to expire thank goodness. I won’t give anything away, but I do think it is helpful to know that the movie is very slow moving with unnatural characters, just so you won’t have to overcome that if you watch.
Written: 17 Mar 2021