'Paterson' is charming, if also headscratch-inducing
Jim Jarmusch鈥檚 best qualities are inseparable from his worst, as聽demonstrated once again in 鈥淧aterson,鈥� starring Adam Driver as a bus聽driver named Paterson from Paterson, N.J. I am hugely聽sympathetic to Jarmusch鈥檚 hang-loose stylistics, the way he lets a scene聽play out so softly and allusively that he makes you aware of how聽manipulatively melodramatic most movies are. He鈥檚 a poet of silences and聽the unsaid.
And yet, there are times in even his best movies when the action, such聽as it is, is so rarified that it mists into nothingness. He鈥檚 great at setting a聽mood, less good at filling it in.
鈥淧aterson鈥� takes place during one bright-leaved autumn week and聽mostly consists of Paterson moping his way genially through his聽humdrum life while his almost pathologically upbeat wife, Laura聽(Golshifteh Farahani), caters to his whimsical penchant for composing聽poetry. The poetry is a nod to, of course, New Jersey native William Carlos聽Williams, whose book of verse, "Paterson," is seminal.
Paterson鈥檚 poetry (written by poet Ron Padgett) is gnomic and rather聽sweet, full of closely observed minutiae about such things as the beauty of聽Ohio Blue Tip matchbook covers. When he鈥檚 not musing about his odes or聽driving his city bus, he鈥檚 having one beer every night at the neighborhood聽bar before returning to adoring Laura. All in all, a nice, pokey life 鈥� but聽not a terribly fascinating one.
Driver鈥檚 low-key charisma in the role rescues it from terminal dullness,聽and there are a few fine sidelights, like Paterson鈥檚 encounter with a聽Japanese visitor (Masatoshi Nagase) who is carrying a volume of Williams鈥櫬犫�淧aterson. 鈥� The scene is charming, if also headscratch-inducing, and聽much the same could be said for this entire film.聽Grade: B- (Rated R for some language.)
