Gus Van Sant revisits old themes in his most recent film, which involves a teenager coping with the brutal reality of death. But unlike the blunt stereotypes he drew in Elephant the characters in Paranoid Park give the audience something to care about.
The story examines what happens to sixteen year old Alex (Gabe Nevins), after he is involved in a horrific accident while riding a freight train that causes the death of a security guard. The details of the event are revealed through Alex’s inner monologue as he writes in a journal, attempting to come to terms with what happened.
Gabe Nevins Compelling as Alex
When the focus is on Alex is when Paranoid Park becomes truly compelling. Gabe Nevins is the embodiment of innocence, and Van Sant is able to capture his essence with startling tenderness. Unfortunately Alex’s inner struggle is somewhat ruined by the stilted voice over, on which the film is heavily dependant and which Van Sant has directed Nevins to perform like a third grader reading the phone book. Despite this Nevins is always able to pull you back in with his dewy eyes and sensitive interaction with other characters. And it must be noted that Van Sant writes teenage dialogue very well.
The backdrop for the story, set in Portland Oregon, is the multitude of skate parks and boarders that glide elegantly through Alex’s mind. While the skateboarding serves a purpose in showing the audience Alex’s drive and passion, it never connects stylistically to the rest of the story and comes across as more of a diversion.
On the whole Paranoid Park is quite inconsistent in it’s focus, splitting concentration awkwardly between Alex’s inner monologue, scenes of ordinary teenage life, and Alex’s home struggles with his parents divorce. Van Sant makes a clever choice not to show the parents faces, thus forcing the audience to concentrate solely on Alex, but then doesn’t stick with it throughout the film. These inconsistencies make it seem as if Paranoid Park is a combination of several different drafts of the screenplay.
Van Sant's Extraordinary Ability to Depict Teenage Life
The scenes with the Alex and his girlfriend (Taylor Momsen) and friend (Lauren McKinney) are the highlights of the film. The frank honesty in the performances and the script demonstrate Van Sant’s extraordinary ability to depict teenage life. Unfortunately there are too few of these scenes, and the acting can be very inconsistent, with terribly contrived self-conscious scenes following subtle realism.
Paranoid Park is a step up from Van Sant’s grating teenage drama Elephant. The acting is far better, and the characters a lot less contrived, but jarring inconsistencies in style and performance will leave the audience ultimately unsatisfied.
