Review: Paranoid Park
Penguin March 26th, 2008
Rating: 2.5/4 stars
Paranoid Park is about a teenage skateboarder, Alex (Gabe Nevins) who accidentally kills a security guard. The film is adapted from the novel of the same title.
Van Sant tells a lot of the story through visuals and non-chronologically. This is probably the best part of the film. As information is slowly revealed to us, we get a sense of Alex’s paranoia. The cinematography is gorgeous. At times artistic and at times like a traditional skate video, it all works to form a cinematically striking film. There’s one scene where Alex breaks up with his girlfriend and the entire sequence is presented without any dialogue. It’s truly beautiful.
The film’s greatest strength is also its weakness. The images drag down the narrative and at times makes the film drag. Which is odd considering it clocks in at 88 minutes. Coupled with the non-chronological story structure and some people may get lost.
If you’re into stuff off the beaten path, you’ll enjoy Paranoid Park.
-Penguin
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