Paranoid Park (2007) Synopsis:
The story revolves around a teenage skateboarder who accidentantly kills a security guard. His otherwise typical life spins into a strange new reality of confusion, cover-up and guilt.
Paranoid Park (2007) Movie Review:
I am not altogether sure how to feel about "Paranoid Park," although I can say with some certainty that it isn't nearly as good as "Elephant." The director, Gus Van Sant, employs many of the same techniques here that he uses on that movie - long tracking shots, slow-motion, the tight, claustrophobic 1.33:1 ratio - and yet while "Elephant" is frightening and hypnotic, "Paranoid Park" felt empty and at times even self-indulgent. Van Sant has made some truly great movies ("My Own Private Idaho" being another one) and some truly misguided ones ("Psycho"); "Paranoid Park" is not a complete disaster, and is garnering some very positive reviews, but I can't shake the feeling that there's something missing from this parade of ghostly, apathetic youth.
The story is told in a sort of non-linear flashback, as Alex recounts the events of the past few days in an attempt to exorcise his feelings about accidentally killing a security guard. He's a teenage skateboarder but not, according to him, a very good one. He and his friend pluck up the courage to go to a notorious skate park known locally as Paranoid Park. This all leads, in a non-direct way, to the security guard's death; the film goes back on itself a few times to reveal how it happened. A policeman shows up at the school and tries to establish a rapport with all the school's skaters, in the hope that one may be able to help him with the case. Things aren't helped by Alex's overzealous girlfriend; he knows she wants to sleep with him, and observes mirthlessly how this will make everything more serious between them.
'Mirthless' is a key word here I think, and perhaps part of what alienated me from the movie. Alienation is perhaps appropriate, since Alex seems pretty cut-off from the world, but I think Van Sant's intention is to illustrate and examine this alienation, not to impose it on his audience. It is true that young people just now are growing up pretty quickly, and coming to terms with things that their parents may think don't even affect them yet. But they're not all so glum.
You could argue, of course, that the glumness comes from the fact that Alex after all kills someone, albeit accidental. Fair enough, but I would have preferred a more engaging examination of what that put him through; his pain and uncertainty in this movie felt sort of superficial to me. The visual style, which was so effective in "Elephant," this time drew attention to itself; furthermore, there are some pretty strange choices of songs for the soundtrack; there's a bit where an excerpt from Beethoven's 9th was played and rather than feel the effect of the juxtaposition, as I did with Für Elise in "Elephant," I was just distracted and bemused.
As with "Elephant" the cast is largely non-professional, apparently hired from websites like Myspace. Alex is played by Gabe Nevins, who is good within the limits of the role. Taylor Momsen is good in the role of his girlfriend, so it's a pity her character isn't permitted a personality. Van Sant deserves credit for seeing the way that teenagers always really see themselves as grown-ups, and have to deal with pretty grown-up issues; this is why adults often find movies like this disturbing. Thankfully, I'm young enough to remember being 17, and this movie to me knows the problems but not the complexities and paradoxes of being that age. I wonder what young people will make of it; in it, their culture is feels weirdly mythologised - 'I don't think I'm ready for Paranoid Park' inspires the response, 'no one's ever ready for Paranoid Park' - and they themselves are highly aestheticised, and it's for the most part effective. There are scenes and moments from "Paranoid Park" that have stayed with me, but from Gus Van Sant I found it pretty disappointing. It often seems to me that adults don't listen to young people much, or that young people are taught that you're best not to open up to adults because you might get hurt; this movie communicates that pretty quickly, and develops nothing much from it.
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Paranoid Park (2007) review written by: Adam Whyte
13th October, 2008 
