Monday, August 16, 2010

Review: Paper Man


Richard (Jeff Daniels) is a struggling writer and husband. He rents a house in Long Island in order to be alone while he writes his new novel. Occasionally visited by his unhappy wife, Richard spends most of his time with his superhero imaginary friend, Captain Excellence (Ryan Reynolds), and a local with her own problems named Abby (Emma Stone). Both Richard and Abby learn to grow together while his imaginary friend holds on to the remaining dependency Richard feels for him.

Jeff Daniels is absolutely charming as the man child, Richard. He lives to make people laugh and entertain them with stories, even tragic ones. Writing is obviously his life, but he is plagued by obsessive compulsions. Emma Stone is equally charming and witty. Wise beyond her years, she makes easy friends with Richard. While their age might imply a certain level of creepiness, there time together never felt sexual or insincere. Besides a few moments of comic relief, Ryan Reynolds' Captain Excellent was not as big a bright spot as I had hoped. Well known for his sense of comedic timing and superhero attitude, Reynolds did not do much to distance himself from his role as Richard's moral compass. I guess it might be a little hard to expect depth out of an imaginary friend though.

The story is lighthearted and charming. It is a look at how people learn to grow, especially how we need others to help us grow, whether they be real or imaginary. Both Richard and Abby are in relationships lacking any kind of support. With Abby, a cheating scumbag boyfriend cripples her confidence, while Richard's nagging, cold wife seems to rip everything Richard finds fun out of his reach. Even worse, is that she seems to be very supportive of his floundering career making her initially empathetic. Two very different animals, but both contribute to the same problem. It forces them both to look to imaginary friends, Abby's being more mysterious than Richard's.

The pacing is slow but strong. Its tone is a bit all over the place though. The comedy is off balanced and never produces an impressive amount of laughs. The drama is not very compelling, but is fairly genuine, if not occasionally cheesy. The cinematography is very basic with a few well shot Captain Excellent gags.

Paper Man is far from a perfect film, but is an easily accessible coming of age story for any age. Despite its moments of tragedy, it still manages to be a happy movie overall, a welcome addition an age of depressing and tragic storytelling.

7/10

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