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Paper Man
Suffering a fairly potent bout of writer’s
block, middle-aged novelist Richard Dunn (Jeff Daniels) is carted off to
the countryside by his wife (Lisa Kudrow) and left there over the summer
as an attempt to get his inspiration flowing again. Along for the ride
is Richard’s imaginary friend Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds), a
flashy blonde Prometheus who embodies many of the characteristics Dunn
wishes he himself could possess.
During the course of his tedious exercises
in ‘charming’ self-indulgence Dunn encounters Abby (Emma Stone, Easy
A), a 17-year-old girl who also projects her insecurities in the
guise of a sassy imaginary companion (Kieran Culkin). An unlikely bond
forms between the pair and... the movie ends up exactly where you think
it will. Valuable lessons are learned, crises of the past confronted
and a good time is had by all. Except, that is, the viewer.
Despite a promising premise and a number of
strong performances, particularly from Stone and the always-engaging
Culkin, Paper Man never really gets going and its plot ends up in
a confused muddle of clichéd and unconvincing resolutions. Plus, for a
comedy, it isn’t particularly funny, a factor which proves something of
an impediment to any real enjoyment. Reynolds tries his darndest to
wring some levity from the fairly silly script and Daniels is convincing
enough, though we never truly to warm to his character and wish he’d
grow up rather than endlessly indulging in his childish penchant for
make believe.
The film hasn’t hurt the careers of
co-directors Kieran and Michele Mulroney, with the pair commissioned as
screenwriters for Guy Ritchie’s impending Sherlock Holmes 2.
There’s little magical about this current outing however, and it proves
a largely listless, sodden and uninspiring directorial debut for the
pair.
Audio & Video
The 16:9 rendering is a little soft, though
Daniels’ ugly mug was hardly tailer made for HD so this is a probably a
good thing. The English 5.1 soundtrack was probably a tad unnecessary,
but the temperate score sounds great in surround and overall the audio
quality is excellent.
Special Features
None. |
