Paper Man - A Contemporary Film Review

Richard, the lead protaganist of the film Paper Man, is an author suffering from writer's block and just wanting to feel a part of something much bigger than himself. Paper Man starts off with Richard (Jeff Daniels) and his wife (Lisa Kudrow) driving to a house for Richard to stay at while he works on writing his book. While Richards struggles to stay on task, he gets distracted by the first sentence of his book, the furniture in the living room, and a troubled teen. Richard tries to befriend the troubled Abby (Emma Stone), which Richard is advised against by his imaginary friend Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds).

The plot of Paper Man is original because it is not a typical happy-ending film. The plot was interesting because it drew the audience in. The audience kept wanting to know more about Richard and his story. The main theme of Paper Man is finding a purpose in life. For Richard, he just wanted to to do something with his hands.

Paper Man is a member of the dark comedy genre. To get a film for the type of comedy that is found in the film, watch these two clips from the film: clip #1 and clip #2 and clip #3 . I believe that dark comedy's are popular today because it allows a more intellectual comedy rather than just slap stick. Dark comedy's make people think about the content/material, rather than going for cheap laughs.

The introduction of the film needed some help in the technical department. The camera shots were shaky and it made audiences dizzy watching the camera jiggle about. The credits at the beginning were also displayed in a very cheesy cartoonish manner. I felt it could have done a little bit better.

The acting in by Jeff Daniels (Richard) was outstanding. He really made the audience fall in love with the failing author that Daniels portrayed. Emma Stone and Lisa Kudrow also did a good job as well. It was nice to see both of these actresses step out into more serious roles. I felt, however, that Ryan Reynolds' acting was not the best in the film. Reynolds was compelling, but compared to his co-star Daniels, Reynolds' performance seemed flat. But I will give Reynolds credit on how amazing he looked in the skin-tight superhero costume her wore.