Paranoid Park (2007) R - 3½ Stars

I really liked the innocent look of a coming of age movie. Set in Portland, Or., a terrible accident changes the life of a teenager for ever. My only rant with the movie was it seemed like it has way too many of these long over drawn slow motion periods where after a while it looks more like the movie is being stretched to fit a time slot than actually inner reflection from the teen.

Alex (Gabe Nevins) is a skateboarder, and along with his friends, they skate around town, getting in too much trouble with the law for skating in places that are not allowed. Alex's life is not the greatest right now. His parents are getting a divorce and he and his younger brother now live with mom. Alex has become intraverted and lives for his skating. Along with his buddy Jared (Jake Miller), they decide to visit a skate park known as Paranoid Park. The place was built to give the skateboarders a place to skate without getting into trouble with the police. The kids who skate there are pretty good and Alex and Jared spend time just checking it out.

The next night Alex decides to borrow moms car and take a drive to the park to see what's up. While there, he meets three other kids, one in particular, asks him if he wants to drink beer and ride the rails. Alex is looking for something to stimulate him and agrees that riding the trains just might be what he's looking for. The two go off to jump aboard when a security guard tries to stop them. A terrible accident occurs and the two run seperately away, confused, and in shock. Now can they undergo the pressure of the quilty feeling for being somewhere they know they were not supposed to be.

2007 - Paranoid Park - Cannes Film Festival - Special 60th Anniversary Award.
2007 - Paranoid Park - Independent Spirit Award - Producers Award.

First Take - IFC Films
Director: Gus Van Sant
Writer: Gus Van Sant
Producers: David Allen Cress, Nathanael Karmitz, Marin Karmitz

I viewed 8/08