Paranoid Park: Artistically driven, Quixotic, Captivating and Magnetic review

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Tom Elce reviews Gus Van Sant's latest film Paranoid Park that won 60th anniversary prize at Cannes

Awaiting every new release from director Gus Van Sant has been a treat since 1997's "Good Will Hunting." A master director whose crowning achievement has to be 2003's "Elephant," Van Sant completes his so-called stoic trilogy - including the aforesaid masterpiece and 2005's "Last Days" - with "Paranoid Park," a low-key joy by the MySpace Generation, for the MySpace Generation. Living up to nearly all expectations set by Van Sant's previous work, the film plays like another long-take entry into the director's exemplary resume, reminiscent of the superior "Elephant" in the style that it is shot, totally unlike it in subject matter - outside of the cast consisting of teenagers playing teenagers on one side of a tragic event (this time in following it) - as the director who hit bottom-of-the-barrel with 1998's "Psycho" revamp continues to put his early duds behind him with a continual ascention to the top of the heap of filmmakers working today, effortlessly weaving a tale of guilt, deception and morality without sermonizing anything.

Van Sant plays spectator to teenage skateboarder Alex's (Gabe Nevins) story. A boy whose impulsive desicions unintentionally played a part in the accidental death of a security guard near the titular skate park - one built illegally by the town's teenage society. Still dealing with the guilt of indirectly killing another, Alex has to simultaneously deal with a suspicious detective (Daniel Liu) seemingly on his trail, not to mention his vapid cheerleader girlfriend (Taylor Momsen) continually pestering him. All this while his parents' divorce materializes, forcing Alex to reevaluate the important things in his life even as he tries to flee them.

Gus Van Sant's films are those of an auteur, each one pulsating the artistically-driven filmmaker's style while, it turns out, being considerably different in subject matter. With more of a plot going on in "Paranoid Park," Van Sant's film also brings the so-called point that some dissenters (not I) might have thought was lacking in "Elephant" and others. As is, the story unfolds wonderfully well, Alex's anguish perfectly captured by director Van Sant and cinematographers Christopher Doyle and Rain Kathy Li (standing in for Van Sant's usual Harris Savides without sacrificing any visual flair) even as newcomer Gabe Nevins isn't as expressive as your usual professional actor. Still, there's something behind Nevins' eyes in the crucial face-off scene Daniel Liu's detective Lu that suggests what Van Sant might've meant in interviews he's given proclaiming that "Nevins tells a story with his face."

If "Paranoid Park" averting the essentially plotless stylings of Van Sant's previous works weren't already surprise enough, some will be taken by surprise as a scene of gore comes out of left-field. Relaying the tragic accident that saw the security guard perish, viewers now have further weight to their understanding of Alex's turmoil by getting to see exactly what he saw. Even if it admittedly doesn't make the greatest sense that Alex doesn't fess up to what he did, we can understand the guilt that haunts him. It isn't an artsy death either, the security guard's fate being put across in all its bloody "glory."

The acting performances surprise in much of their unexpected quality, too. Gabe Nevins doesn't strike one as a future Oscar winner, but he does well with what he's given, making for a sort of bland lead who the viewer comes to sympathise with despite his faults and misgivings. Taylor Momsen, meanwhile, essays his selfish girlfriend Jennifer pretty well. Daniel Liu, in his own film debut, is memorable as Detective Richard Lu. Rounding out the major cast, newcomer Lauren McKinney is a delight for every scene she features in as Alex's friend Macy. McKinney makes the biggest impression and she's likeable through all her screen time. Hopefully we'll see more of her from this point.

For anyone who has enjoyed director Van Sant's previous work, "Paranoid Park" won't necessarily be more of the same - similarities in style cast aside, his works are thematically extremely diverse - but will undoubtedly work its spell on his fans. Anyone who has found his previous work to be boring (as several have), you need not apply - but I advise you do anyway. For novices simply looking for a nice, intelligent film, you could do a hell of a lot worse and only a tiny bit better. Artistically driven, quixotic and captivating, Van Sant's films are continuously magnetic. "Paranoid Park," in that sense anyway, is in keeping with his other films.

[rating:4.5]