PATERSON (2016) ****

Adam Driver stars a bus driver named Paterson who lives in Paterson, New Jersey.  This seems like the premise for a really bad movie, but it’s actually one of the more quietly powerful films I’ve seen in a long time.  When he’s not driving the bus and eavesdropping on the strange conversations the commuters make, he’s writing poems in his “secret” notebook.  Paterson is also quite supportive of his girlfriend who is always busy making quaint art projects and baking cupcakes (not to mention those around him who create their own unique brands of artistic expression) while never really having the confidence to share his own work. 

Paterson is required viewing for anyone who juggles producing independent art with having a "real" job.  Since the character of Paterson is such a creature of habit, the first half of the film is a bit of a slog to get through.  That’s mostly because writer/director Jim Jarmusch does such an accurate job at portraying his boring, mundane everyday existence.  We need to experience the unchanging routine of Paterson’s life to fully appreciate him.  That way, when something outside of his routine happens, it feels almost catastrophic.  The last act of the picture may feel slight when compared to most films.  Since we’ve been so firmly placed in his shoes, we are devastated when something bad finally occurs.   

This is the kind of movie that flummoxes the Star Rating.  I was pretty bored with the deliberate first hour and actually turned the movie off halfway through because I started falling asleep.  I finished it the next day and was just about in tears by the end.  Despite the fact that I was bored by the first half, you really need that deliberate pace to sell the finale.  Without it, the ending doesn’t mean nearly as much.   

I watched this movie about a week ago and put off immediately writing about it.  I’m glad I did too because I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.  The more I think about it, the more it affects me on a deeper personal level.  I see a lot of myself in the main character and that is something that can often be hard to handle.  I have also dealt with setbacks similar to what he endures, which is both painful and exhilarating at the same time.  Paterson is a unique and haunting movie and one of Jarmusch’s best.