Paranoid Park (film)
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| Paranoid Park | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Gus Van Sant |
| Produced by | Charles Gilbert Neil Kopp |
| Written by | Blake Nelson (novel) Gus Van Sant |
| Starring | Gabe Nevins Taylor Momsen Scott Patrick Green |
| Cinematography | Christopher Doyle |
| Editing by | Gus Van Sant |
| Distributed by | IFC Films |
| Release date(s) | March 7, 2008 |
| Running time | 85 min. |
| Country | France USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8 million |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Paranoid Park is a 2007 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant. The film is based on a novel by Blake Nelson, and takes place in Portland, Oregon, United States. The story revolves around a teenage skateboarder who accidentally kills a security guard. Paranoid Park premièred at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival as one of 22 films in the competition, and won the 60th anniversary prize.[1]
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[edit] Plot
Alex (Gabe Nevins), a 16 year old skateboarder, rides a freight train clandestinely, together with a man named 'Scratch' whom he has just met at the Eastside Skate Park, known to the local skateboard community as 'Paranoid Park'. While the train is moving a security guard working at the rail yard notices the pair, chases after them, and tries to get them off by repeatedly hitting Alex with his flashlight. In the affray, Alex hits him with his skateboard and the guard falls onto another track into the path of a second, oncoming, freight train which cuts him in half.
Alex tries to destroy some of the evidence: he throws his skateboard into the Willamette River from the Steel Bridge, and when he arrives at his friend Jared's house he disposes of the clothes he had been wearing.
Some time later, while Alex is attending school, he and several other students who skateboard are called to the school office. There they are questioned by a police officer named Detective Liu. It is revealed that the police have recovered Alex's skateboard, though they have not traced it back to him, and have identified DNA evidence which places the skateboard at the scene of the security guard's death.
Throughout the film Alex keeps the incident to himself, and does not confide in anyone else. However, one of his friends, Macy, notices that he is worried about something. She advises him to write down whatever it is that's bothering him, for a cathartic release if nothing else. He is initially opposed to the idea, but eventually writes an account around which the story and its narration are based. After completing the written account, Alex burns it.
[edit] Cast
- Gabe Nevins as Alex
- Taylor Momsen as Jennifer
- Scott Patrick Green as Scratch
- Jake Miller as Jared
- Lauren McKinney as Macy
- Daniel Liu as Detective Richard Lu
[edit] Critical reception
The film received favorable response from critics. As of March 16, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 76% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 95 reviews.[2] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 83 out of 100, based on 27 reviews — indicating "universal acclaim."[3]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Paranoid Park at the Internet Movie Database
- Paranoid Park at Rotten Tomatoes
- Paranoid Park at Metacritic
- Paranoid Park at Box Office Mojo
- Paranoid Park at Allmovie
- Paranoid Park at MySpace
- Paranoid Park Trailer at YouTube
- Review at Riverfront Times "Gus van Sant returns to disaffected youth and shoestring budgets in Paranoid Park"
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