Paterson (Adam Driver) is a New Jersey Transit bus driver in the city of Paterson. He leads an orderly life, getting up early, kissing his wife Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), making coffee, and eating a bowl of Cheerios, before walking to the bus depot. Driving around town, Paterson observes his disparate passengers and listens to snippets of their conversation. He comes home at the same time each night, walks the cranky English bulldog, and enjoys a beer at a corner bar. But his passion is writing poetry in a small notebook. Paterson indulgently supports Laura's whimsical hobbies and country-singer ambitions; in turn, she encourages his gift for poetry. And they love each other dearly. Deadpan Driver embodies this quiet, observant man who derives creative inspiration from an Ohio Blue Tip matchbox, while the quirky exuberance of Iranian actress Farahani seems boundless. Independent writer-director Jim Jarmusch's film is characteristically leisurely and features very little plot. The city of Paterson is perhaps best known as the subject of an epic modernist poem by William Carlos Williams, who viewed poetry as “equipment for living, a necessary guide amid the bewilderments of life.” Jarmusch obviously agrees, as is evident in this melancholic meditative film. Recommended. (S. Granger)
Paterson
Universal, 119 min., R, DVD: $19.98, Blu-ray: $26.98, Apr. 4 Volume 32, Issue 2
Paterson
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