Have you seen other Jim Jarmusch movies? Jarmusch tends to use vague storylines and slow pace. I myself have yet to see Paterson to compare, though.

I haven't seen this yet, but as a Jarmusch fan, I am used to the almost leaden pacing of most of his films.

@Will Barks said:

Have you seen other Jim Jarmusch movies? Jarmusch tends to use vague storylines and slow pace. I myself have yet to see Paterson to compare, though.

After reviewing his filmography I know I have seen: Dead Man, Coffee & Cigarettes (shorts & film), Broken Flowers and Paterson. I might have seen Ghost Dog as well, but can't say with 100% certainty. I didn't know his filmography before this, so my take on Paterson was just a "non-biased" viewing. It will be interesting to hear what you think.

BTW, I'm not saying it was a terrible film, but wow, the pacing and arc. I mean, it's for sure all about subtlety.

Spoilers It was an odd experience for me, but I loved it. Have never seen a film like that. I liked following along with Paterson and being a tourist in his day to day life. His poetry was so strange and addicting. Each scene was portrayed perfectly by Driver in my opinion. I don't think I caught the whole story, but there was something in his past that made him a local celebrity of sorts? Can't remember now. Sometimes along the ride I worried something terrible was going to happen and sometimes I got a laugh.

@nowello said:

Spoilers I don't think I caught the whole story, but there was something in his past that made him a local celebrity of sorts? Can't remember now. Sometimes along the ride I worried something terrible was going to happen and sometimes I got a laugh.

I don't know that he was much of a celebrity, but rather just that he shared the same name as his hometown, which caught people off guard. Of course, being a bus driver and man of routine he was well known in his city among those he would occasion upon each day.

@Daddie0 said:

@nowello said:

Spoilers I don't think I caught the whole story, but there was something in his past that made him a local celebrity of sorts? Can't remember now. Sometimes along the ride I worried something terrible was going to happen and sometimes I got a laugh.

I don't know that he was much of a celebrity, but rather just that he shared the same name as his hometown, which caught people off guard. Of course, being a bus driver and man of routine he was well known in his city among those he would occasion upon each day.

That's exactly it. Thank you. I completely forgot that detail. It was a while ago that I saw the movie.

Well, I feel like I've visited Paterson, New Jersey. I got the same feeling with 'Down By Law' and New Orleans and 'Mystery Train' and Memphis. I didn't know about Lou Costello, or William Carlos Williams. Nice touch. And Paterson losing his notebook of poems was rather wrenching. I was concerned about the lovelorn fellow in the bar. I also wondered why Paterson didn't go with the wife to sell the cupcakes, just to keep her company. Maybe with the bus he had enough with the public for the week. It just seemed odd that he helped her put the cupcakes in the car suggesting that she might have needed further help. Maybe a comment on their marriage. The bit with meeting the tourist in the park was a little spooky. - But then I've liked all of Jarmusch's movies. He's a pretty funny man.

It was quite good. It had a nice mood to it. But it's not my favourite Jarmusch film. I like Broken Flowers best. The way people spoke and acted in this felt a bit twee. A bit unnatural. Like everyone was unrealistically nice to each other.

I thought this was really excellent, the best Jarmusch film I have seen to date. The rhythm of the film really drew me in. I found myself looking forward to scenes I knew must be coming – Paterson’s next scene with his girlfriend and her eccentric projects/ideas, his brief daily conversation with the co-worker with an endless list of complaiaints about his life, the visits to the bar and its mini dramas, the walks with that delightful dog.

Adam Driver, an actor I have sometimes struggled to warm to, is simply marvellous here and Golshifteh Farahani is a revelation. A quite beguiling portrayal of the day by day life of a thoroughly decent, outwardly ordinary human being.

@rudely_murray said:

I thought this was really excellent, the best Jarmusch film I have seen to date. The rhythm of the film really drew me in. I found myself looking forward to scenes I knew must be coming – Paterson’s next scene with his girlfriend and her eccentric projects/ideas, his brief daily conversation with the co-worker with an endless list of complaiaints about his life, the visits to the bar and its mini dramas, the walks with that delightful dog.

Adam Driver, an actor I have sometimes struggled to warm to, is simply marvellous here and Golshifteh Farahani is a revelation. A quite beguiling portrayal of the day by day life of a thoroughly decent, outwardly ordinary human being.

You're supposed to get pulled into this dude's routine and it just feels kind of like everyday life, to an extent, due to its methodical pacing. (No pun intended on Mr. Meth's name - he was good in this.) After awhile, I expected something more fast-paced and possibly bad to happen, like nowello wrote. All I got was that man in the bar going nuts over his ex and Paterson disarming him. Jim Jarmusch is the king of the slow crawl movie.

@mechajutaro said:

@Will Barks said:

Have you seen other Jim Jarmusch movies? Jarmusch tends to use vague storylines and slow pace. I myself have yet to see Paterson to compare, though.

Does Ghost Dog have a cameo in this one? That'll decide whether it's worth a look, or sheer unadulterated dreck

Nope... but it's not dreck, at least not IMO. Now, JJ's zombie film that followed this has gotten less than stellar feedback -- that I'm concerned about, having not seen it yet.

@Satch_the_man said:

Now, JJ's zombie film that followed this has gotten less than stellar feedback -- that I'm concerned about, having not seen it yet.

'Tis not very good. It reeks of Jim trying to be all down with the kids with all the self awareness schtick. He doesn't get it and it all feels a bit embarrassing.

I may be renting it later today. I'll be back with my own opinion on the flick. Jim Jarmusch rocks....

@Gary L said:

Well, I feel like I've visited Paterson, New Jersey. I got the same feeling with 'Down By Law' and New Orleans and 'Mystery Train' and Memphis. I didn't know about Lou Costello, or William Carlos Williams. Nice touch. And Paterson losing his notebook of poems was rather wrenching. I was concerned about the lovelorn fellow in the bar. I also wondered why Paterson didn't go with the wife to sell the cupcakes, just to keep her company. Maybe with the bus he had enough with the public for the week. It just seemed odd that he helped her put the cupcakes in the car suggesting that she might have needed further help. Maybe a comment on their marriage. The bit with meeting the tourist in the park was a little spooky. - But then I've liked all of Jarmusch's movies. He's a pretty funny man.

SPOILERS BELOW.

He is funny; his sense of humor definitely comes across in some of his films, esp. Ghost Dog.

I would say the tourist in the park was the universe stepping in to fill the gap that was left after the dog ate Paterson's notebook of poems. The tourist gave Paterson a nice new notebook and reminded Paterson of his weird connections to certain great poets. It's like the tourist was letting him know that it wasn't all over for him as a poet.

@JustinJackFlash said:

@Satch_the_man said:

Now, JJ's zombie film that followed this has gotten less than stellar feedback -- that I'm concerned about, having not seen it yet.

'Tis not very good. It reeks of Jim trying to be all down with the kids with all the self awareness schtick. He doesn't get it and it all feels a bit embarrassing.

SPOILERS BELOW.

It's a goofy film for sure with all of the self-awareness, but the climactic fight with the zombies was so badass that it helped win me over. Jarmusch used a really creative way of breaking the fourth wall in this, and the cast is impressive. The part where Tilda Swinton's obvious The Bride homage character got swept up in the UFO didn't seem to have much purpose, except that we got a peek at how Earth might've been knocked off of its axis in the film's start. There were lots of characters that didn't have much functionality in this. Having once been a fan of "The Walking Dead," I was disappointed by the lack of gore when the zombies were dispatched -- cut off one's head and black dust comes out of it -- and overwhelmingly, this felt like Jarmusch's own take on "TWD" more than anything else. Hmmm, a hit-and-miss film for sure. 6/10.