LOS ANGELES, Dec 26 — A big name on film and TV, Adam Driver stars in a less flashy project, Jim Jarmusch's Paterson, but it's one that has attracted no small amount of praise during an extended run of cinephile film festivals.
Who's in it and what's it about?
Adam Driver is best known for his ongoing six-season run as Adam Sackler in HBO comedy series Girls and as twisted Jedi knight Kylo Ren in Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.
Here he teams up with one of US cinema's most established and active auteurs in director Jim Jarmusch, playing the lead and title role in Paterson.
Paterson is an unpublished but serial poet whose day job is as a bus driver, ferrying his passengers around the city with which he shares his name, Paterson, and by nature of his proximity, gleaning insights into the lives of those that ride the buses.
It's an examination of the everyday, the regular habits of a working man, and a meditation on what is right with the world. There might not be conflict but there is plenty of comedy written into Paterson's conversations with his wife, colleagues, barman, passengers, and passers by. Sometimes even fellow poets.
Golshifteh Farahani, who has featured in Ridley Scott's Body of Lies and Exodus: Gods and Kings, plays Paterson's wife Laura.
Also on board are Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward (both Moonrise Kingdom), Rizwan Manji of Outsourced, Barry Shabaka Henley of Collateral and The Terminal, and Masatoshi Nagase of The Hidden Blade and Jim Jarmusch's own Mystery Train.
It's an accomplished cast.
Who's behind it?
Celebrated independent filmmaker and scriptwriter Jim Jarmusch is well known for a body of work which itself has been typified by a poetic feel, a set of films that includes Broken Flowers and Only Lovers Left Alive, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and the Coffee and Cigarettes trilogy.
Is it any good?
There's been a lot of excitement surrounding Paterson, which premiered as a nominee for the prestigious Palme d'Or at Cannes in May 2016.
A comprehensive festival tour followed and at review Paterson stands at 96 per cent approval on a 8.7/10 average rating from Rotten Tomatoes (86 per cent and 8.5/10 from its Top Critics,) 87/100 from Metacritic, though a lower 7.7/10 derived from 2,900 user reviews on IMDb.
Hollywood's annual awards season has brought further plaudits and Paterson could net some high-profile accolades, though its four nominations at the Gotham Awards did not translate into trophies.
When's it out?
Paterson arrives in US cinemas from December 28, following general releases in Germany, the UK and Ireland in November, Spain on December 7, and France on December 21. — AFP-Relaxnews
