Toronto and NYFF preview. Paranoid Park.

"The last four Gus Van Sant movies - Gerry, Elephant, Last Days, and this gorgeous reverie on adolescence - have the quality of a dream, slipping so fluidly through time and space that they practically float on air," writes Scott Tobias. "Perhaps by tethering the movie to some measure of conventional plot tension - the young hero's involvement in the accidental death of a Portland security guard - Paranoid Park [French site] has the weight of real insight that the other movies (which I think are all accomplished in other ways) can't really claim."

Also at the AV Club: "Paranoid Park is perhaps Van Sant's most accessible film since he returned to the art-film circuit, because its people and emotions are the most recognizable and relatable—even when the plot takes a turn toward the lurid," writes Noel Murray at the AV Club.

"As was the case with Gerry, Elephant and Last Days, I'm not sure why Van Sant is so fixated on violence, and I'm not totally convinced that he has anything particularly meaningful to teach us about it," writes Darren Hughes. Nonetheless, "Paranoid Park is my new favorite of Van Sant's films."

"Van Sant - aided by the masterful camera of cinematographer Christopher Doyle - treat the specifics of the narrative as details of marginal importance, completely honing their focus on navigating an increasingly turbulent emotional landscape," writes Jesse Ataide at DVD Verdict.

Earlier: Reviews from Cannes.

Posted by dwhudson at September 26, 2007 1:52 AM