Paper Man

This blog isn't going to become a slew of movie reviews. I can add some book ones too =]

Today I watched Paper Man. Jeff Daniels is the main character, with Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, and Lisa Krudow. It was released in 2009 but it's Indie I guess so it never got loads of mainstream recognition.

When the movie ended, I was left feeling the way I hope anything I produce makes people feel. It was familiar, and it was devastating.

Mission Impossible and Transformers are great movies, but conversely they aren't spectacular. There is rarely an internal struggle to be found aside from 'I'm in lust with her but she's working for the enemy'. This is not one of those movies. The characters are broken and that's what the movie is about. There are few plot points. I don't think I could list more than five if I really thought about it. And I wouldn't be surprised if some people found it confusing. Certain characters were personified even though they probably shouldn't have been. But then maybe they should have. I don't make the decisions.

I think honestly the only reason it really impacted me so much is because of how familiar the main character is. His soul is restless. It seemed at points the whole world moves too fast for him. It's like you just get folded into the creases of society and everyone expects you to keep up. And you're screaming that you're drowning and why can't they save you or throw you a life jacket but no one listens. They can't hear you no matter how loud you scream, so you stop. You let the water wash over you and you watch them race by. And when they finally pay you mind it's too late and you're in trouble because you just couldn't follow suit, could you? You couldn't just get a real job and act like a normal functioning member of society. You had to mess it all up.

Maybe that's the point, though. Everyone is screaming and no one is listening. People die and do mean things to each other and we're never the same again. And that's life.

It's just that lately I'm realizing how all the really messed up junk I had to endure during my adolescence has shaped the person I currently am. Coming to terms with that hasn't been an easy road. So maybe I loved it so much because I  just really related to Emma's character Abby.

"My parents thought... I don't know... I never told them, I never told anyone. It was a pact. Amy and me were both supposed to go... in the water. She did it, but I swam back. I swam back... I couldn't... I don't know what we were so unhappy about. We were eight. Eight... I guess you're too young to know you can get over anything." - Abby, Paper Man