Jim Jarmusch has made a career out of creating delightfully offbeat characters, many of who are on an existential journey of sorts. What's most astonishing about him as a writer and a director is how he manages to always keep the vibe, even when it feels on the brink of pretension or hipster overload, unbelievably cool. There's a rich sense of poetry in the ways his characters act and look and speak, making it a delight to spend time with him. I often don't want his movies to end. They have a relaxed feel to them, but I can't think of one that's ever been as chill as his latest, Paterson.
Jarmusch has achieved something quite remarkable and rarely seen here, that being an observation of daily routines in an ordinary life where the person going through it is...happy. There are various points throughout Paterson where we wonder if the monotony of the cycle will have an unexpected effect on the main character, though it never does. This is one of the most original and intriguing slice-of-life movies I have seen in quite some time. A lot of credit for the movie's success belongs to Adam Driver's performance in the lead role. He plays a character named Paterson, which also happens to be the New Jersey town where he lives.
The movie chronicles a week in the life of Paterson, beginning with when he gets up in the morning and often ending as he stares into a glass of beer. He is a creature of habit, his internal clock waking him up at around the same time every day and his breakfast always consisting of a small bowl of Cheerios. From there, it's off to work as a bus driver, which might look like a boring and thankless job, but not for Paterson. Despite his quiet demeanor, he takes pride in it, and even seems to enjoy the conversations of some of the passengers. The biggest pleasure of his day is during lunch when he can focus on writing poetry, with subjects ranging everywhere from the print on a match book to his love for his wife.
Paterson's wife, Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), spends her days at home dreaming of new creative ventures. She likes to paint, but also wants to become a country singer and have a cupcake business. There is a blissful innocence to her approach to these many interests, although that does not get in the way of her encouraging Paterson to let others read his poetry. Despite her pressing and him agreeing to make copies of his "secret book," Paterson doesn't want to share his poetry with the world. The writing is the one thing that is truly his; it's a way to escape and express himself on the page in a way he cannot do verbally.
Jarmusch gives the movie a compassionate all-the-world's-a-stage feel. He creates in the city of Paterson a tranquil sense of community, in which even the potential threats turn out to nothing even close to that. Like most of his work, Paterson is refreshingly multicultural. The best scenes in the movie occur during Paterson's nightly after dinner visit to a corner bar owned by an elderly African American man named Doc (the wonderful character actor Barry Shabaka Henley) who chats with him about the famous people from the city. These are the moments that best reflect Jarmusch's signature deadpan sense of humor, thanks the gallery of characters who interact with Paterson as he sips a beer. Another great example is his reaction while eating a Brussels sprouts and cheddar cheese pie that Laura makes for dinner.
And such is the comfortable pattern of Paterson. It is not a movie of deep revelations or surprises, but a modest snapshot of the benefits and comforts of a simple life, joyfully fulfilled. Paterson might not say a lot or show much enthusiasm, yet it is evident, especially through Driver's magnificently understated performance, that he is happy and doesn't have any desire to change (he does not have and does not want a cell phone). There's something very satisfying in this, not just as a concept so much as by how Jarmusch presents it. This is a mature and confident piece of filmmaking, one that embraces the gift of living combined with the importance of recognizing the undeniable beauty of the details that shape life. Sometimes we take the latter for granted. Paterson is a thoughtful reminder of why we shouldn't. I more I think about this movie, the more I love it.
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