Paper Man Review
By David Kempler
Odd, But Good Stock
Jeff Daniels is determined to take roles that promote the perception of his being weird, offbeat, and way out of the mainstream. His looks also somewhat promote the same idea. He is handsome, but not classically so. His persona usually promotes at least a partial lack of self-assurance. In "Paper Man", he takes it a step further than usual, living on the edge of sanity.
Richard Dunn (Daniels) is an author with writer's block, which makes him like every other writer. But he has more reasons than most for his problems. You see, he has an imaginary friend that has been with him since he was a child. His friend is Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds), a good-looking fellow in a superhero outfit that is nearly identical to Superman. Captain Excellent talks like a bad radio announcer, spouting oddities, in an even odder voice. The first time he appeared, he struck me as a gay icon. I assume that this is unintentional.
Richard is married to Claire (Lisa Kudrow), a very successful vascular surgeon. In the opening scene, the couple goes to their new temporary home in Montauk, near the easternmost tip of Long Island, NY. She is in control and treats him like a child, but not in a demeaning way. She cares about him. At this point we have no idea how deep Richard's problems are. The arrangement is that during the week, Claire will live in the city while Richard stays in Montauk. On the weekends she will travel out there to be with him. This will allow him to work on his next novel.
One day, Richard runs into Abby (Emma Stone), a local, cute teenager. The meeting and ensuing friendship strains credibility. In most films, under the circumstances laid out by co-writers/directors Kieran and Michele Mulroney, Richard would have gotten beaten up by someone and more than likely would have ended up in jail. It made it tough for me to accept what I was watching. Even in a fantasy movie, there needs to be reasonable reactions to laid out circumstances.
Yet, "Paper Man" did end up winning me over after its bumpy start. By the end, it is exceptionally charming because we care about both Richard and Claire. They are both screwed-up and they both operate outside of what we would consider reality, but it works. There are some gaping flaws but you'll be able to ignore them. "Paper Man" is made of high-quality stock.
