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In the lovely "Paterson," writer-director Jim Jarmusch celebrates the quiet joy of creativity and creates two of the nicest characters to embody that joy.
The title character, Paterson (Adam Driver), has a simple daily routine. He drives a bus in Paterson, N.J., following his route and thinking of lines of poetry. He writes these lines down in a notebook he carries with him. After work, he stops at the tavern for one beer, then goes home to his wife, Laura (played by the Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani). He also walks her bulldog, Nellie.
Laura is the main variable in Paterson's life. She is a whirlwind of creative impulses, an artist in search of her medium. She buys a guitar online, determined to be a country singer. She bakes cupcakes to sell at the farmers market, sure that she'll be successful enough to open a bakery. She paints the living room and creates her own clothes and drapes — and her favorite color scheme is always black and white.
Paterson and Laura have a wonderful life, loving and gentle. Neither thinks they are perfect. She is constantly questioning whether her work — her cupcakes, her country songs, her life — is good enough. He resists her suggestions that he publish his poems, as he sees them as inferior to the work of his idol, William Carlos Williams (a New Jersey native who famously wrote a five-volume epic poem about the town of Paterson).
Jarmusch lets the movie unfold so quietly, so naturally, that one might be fooled into thinking there's little happening at all. Certainly, this isn't a movie for people who expect car chases and exploding spaceships, but the emotional ride is just as moving and as powerful.
Driver's Paterson steers through his namesake town, listening to the conversations of his passengers — like the one between two too-cool students (played by Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, once the preteen runaways of Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom"). His observations form the basis for his poetry, which he writes and rewrites, polishing his words into gems.
Through Paterson's poems (written by poet Ron Padgett) and Laura's far-flung whimsy, Jarmusch shows us something seldom captured on film: the act of creativity, as a spark of an idea is nurtured and revised, through brain power and hard work, into something beautiful.
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'Paterson'
A bus driver writes poetry, while his wife follows her muse, in Jim Jarmusch's quietly moving exploration of creativity.
Where • Broadway Centre Cinemas.
When • Friday, Feb. 10.
Rating • R for some language.
Running time • 118 minutes.