Paper Man (2009)
Summary
Genre: DramaGoodies:
+ Interesting take on the concept of superheroes, + Good actingBaddies:
- Certain parts of the film felt rather passe, - Unfocused plot in certain placesA coming-of-middle-age comedy that chronicles the unlikely friendship between failed author Richard Dunne and a Long Island teen who teaches him a thing or two about growing up, all under the disapproving eye of his long-suffering wife and his imaginary Superhero friend
Although 6.5 stars may not seem like it was a great film, Paper Man is a good film and worth your time, but there were parts of it that felt blase (which I think was the intention to some extent). The film seems to portray (in trailer, description, and movie poster art), that the imaginary friend is a crux of the film, but in reality, I would argue plays a pretty small role in the film overall. The acting is great though, both Jeff Daniels and Emma Stone do terrific jobs (and it was nice to see Lisa Kudrow once again!). The ‘twist’ near the end was pretty nice and had a nice sendoff with the film. Also, I didn’t tag this as a comedy, because it’s light (and at times) dark comedy, but I would say is more of a way that the story progresses rather than a focus of the film. It also loses points for awkward ambiguous father/daughter/lover/huge-age-gap relationship between the two main characters. I was starting to get inline with what the relationship was until they end, then I felt off put by what I was seeing. Overall though, the film was pretty good, and there aren’t a huge amount of indie films that pull through like Paper Man did!
