Paranoid Park

"Paranoid Park"

Disaffected Youth

Amos Lassen


"Paranoid Park" is Gus Van Sant's film adaptation of Blake Nelson's novel about Portland. It was awarded the 60th Anniversary Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It is the story of Alex (Gabe Nevins), a young skater who accidentally kills a security guard. Alex, one night, went to Paranoid Park, a skate park that was illegally built by punks, other skaters and disaffected youth. While he was there, Alex was picked up by some unsavory characters and Alex does something terrible. He then tries to cope with the event and writes a letter to one of his friends explaining what happened. Alex searches for a way to formulate his feelings. He is not a typical teenager---he is introspective and quiet and cannot verbally express his feelings.
Paranoid Park is a representation of the place where Alex feels he can belong. He is attracted to the skaters there and he wants to be in their company but he can't seem to find his place. His only real outward expression comes in his writing which are not much more than one-sided dialogues.
This is existential Van Sant as he concerns himself with how young people exist. Alex not only has to cope with what he has done but with his parents' divorce and his girlfriend who is both superficial and sexually forward. He is unable to express himself. "Paranoid Park" is Van Sant's version of "Crime and Punishment" and torment from within. The film is unpredictable and Nevins as Alex is a real find. The story is unique and holds the interest of the viewer throughout but Van Sant has done better. Nevertheless this is an interesting look at a culture that many of us do not know much about.

With no idea of what this movie was about except with a recommendation from a favored source, I rented this movie.

The artwork for the cover and just the name conjured up imagery of a possibly dark but well-done story, mystery and the inevitable looming of a tragic event.

What ended up happening was watching a movie that tried so hard to capture that of the high school awkwardness, playing the most random soundtrack (of course Eliot Smith was present), long, drawn-out slow-motion scenes (see the longest shower scene I have ever watched), and terrible, terrible acting.

This felt like a well-done attempt by a college film student who had a passion for skateboarding (see random shots of skateboarders), who executed this movie by watching well-done films (see Darren Afronosky) and emulating those to create many of the scenes you will see here. See the splicing of present with past in order to keep the viewer enticed.


Basically, this is a low-budget film without the low-budget, terrible song choices, terrible acting (this felt like films I've seen in Spanish class in high school), and just bad attempt.

If you want to watch a film that does the time sequence story, murder, but with out the awkward adolescence, amazing acting, watch Boy A.


Basically, just stay away from this film. Seriously.

This is one of those films that when the credits roll you look at each other in disbelief, its like the producers ran out of money and said Uh oh, looks like we got another Blockbuster Exclusive. Actually a good film, I just wish they had enough money for the rest of it.

I read the book in March during spring break and it was amazing I knew there was gonna be a movie and I checked out every clip, preview and anything I could get my hands on because where I live it's hard to get to see any kind of independent flick there is. I preordered this item in august and I hope it's amazing because let's face it the book is awesome so for those of you who think this movie was a waste of your time try spending 8 months waiting for a movie to come out and then take some time and some hard earned cash and buy the book and then the movie will most likely make more sense than it did before remember this is an adaptation from a book to a movie and dramas are intended to be boring in the beginning and then they spice up a bit.

Just watched "Paranoid Park"!

Good story,good characters, really interesting "it could happen" type plot!

I wish it had explained things a little better at the end.

Gus Van Sant usually doesnt disappoint and doesnt here.

If you like this movie, check out "Elephant", its another Van Sant film and a good one!