Paranoid Park (2007)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writers (WGA):

Gus Van Sant (screenplay)
Blake Nelson (novel)

Release Date:

24 October 2007 (Belgium)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sport | Thriller

Plot:

A teenage skateboarder's life begins to fray after he is involved in the accidental death of a security guard.

Plot Keywords:

Skateboarder | Death | Security Guard | Accidental Death | Teenager

Awards:

4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Gabe Nevins	...	Alex
Daniel Liu	...	Detective Richard Lu (as Dan Liu)
Jake Miller	...	Jared
Taylor Momsen	...	Jennifer
Lauren McKinney	...	Macy
Scott Patrick Green	...	Scratch (as Scott Green)
John Michael Burrowes	...	Security Guard (as John 'Mike' Burrowes)
Grace Carter	...	Alex's Mom
Jay 'Smay' Williamson	...	Alex's Dad
Christopher Doyle	...	Uncle Tommy
Dillon Hines	...	Henry
Emma Nevins	...	Paisley
Brad Peterson	...	Jolt
Winfield Jackson	...	Christian (as Winfield Henry Jackson)
Joe Schweitzer	...	Paul

MPAA:

Rated R for some disturbing images, language and sexual content.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A | USA:R | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | South Korea:15 | Taiwan:R-12 (original rating) | UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Sweden:15 | Netherlands:12 | Japan:PG-12 | Norway:11 | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-13 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Austria:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Czech Republic:12 | Peru:14 | Norway:15 (DVD rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:16 (TV rating) | Italy:T

Filming Locations:

Burnside Skatepark, Portland, Oregon, USA

Company:

MK2 Productions

Trivia:

Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2007 (#01)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Alex walks home after writing "Paranoid Park" in his notebook, the notebook disappears (in the shot from behind) and then reappears.

Quotes:

Jared: Dude, we should go check out Paranoid Park.
Alex: Dude, I don't think I'm ready for Paranoid Park.
Jared: Yeah, but no one's ever really ready for Paranoid Park.

Movie Connections:

References "South Park" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Outlaw

Mop-top stuff from Gus Van Sant…

Mop-top stuff from Gus Van Sant… After turning his back on the mainstream 6 years ago with his striking yet spurned two-man tale, Gerry, acclaimed writer/director Gus Van Sant (Elephant, Last Days) delivers in refined style once more with his own eccentric yet poignant spin on the teen' movie genre.

Adapted from Blake Nelson's best selling novella and shot masterfully in Van Sant's hometown of Portland, Paranoid Park hinges upon an act of acute violence. Alex (Gabe Nevins) is a confused schoolboy skater whose life hits turmoil following his role in the death of a local security guard. The film itself, then, is largely told from Alex's perspective as he goes back and forth in his mind and notebook in an attempt to vindicate his tainted conscious and make sense of why and how things happened the way they did.

With the chronology of the omniscient narrative skewed and certain specific preliminary sequences misleading, Paranoid Park establishes a near perfect balance between form and content. The naivety and confusion stirring behind Nevins' infantile eyes are both complimented and mirrored by the structure of the plot. In his feature debut, Nevins gives a modest performance of troubled teen' in whom thoughts of; family, divorce, sex, skating, school and murder suffer a succession of high-speed collisions. At the age of just 15 years, Nevins' not only performs with quality beyond his tender years and experience, but provides a leading performance that is as convincing as it is impressive.

As for Van Sant, his tight film-making skills are exhibited throughout in what has to be considered as an experimental picture wherein an uncanny blend of hand-held, slow-mo' scenic inter-cuts, out-of-sync shots and mellow off-screen alternative music carve a moody yet nonchalant atmosphere that at times suggests that this is an independent crime-mystery drama, at others: a tale of boy becomes man. Whatever it is, it brings to mind the likes of Memento and Brick. Hence, it is simply brilliant. Mystifying, moving and quite majestic. Paranoid Park is one of this year's most haunting and interesting features that is genuinely up there with Van Sant's finest work thus far.