Paper Man - Zeit erwachsen zu werden

I remember seeing a preview for this movie once a while back and thought it looked interesting, but then I never heard about it again. While roaming through Netflix one night I came across it in my queue and decided to check it out and very glad that I did.

Paper Man is a very charming dramedy with excellent performances by Jeff Daniels and Emma Stone who form a unique friendship that fills the opposite voids each character has in their lives. The type of friendship they form could have easily been ruined by coming off too romantic, but both Daniels and Stone teeter the line of awkward and endearing perfectly to keep the dramatic aspects in a comedic tone.

Then there's Captain Excellent, the imaginary friend to Richard Dunn (Jeff Daniels) played by Ryan Reynolds. Captain Excellent is the sarcastic "voice of reason" to Dunn that leads to many comical exchanges between the two. The sarcastic tone of the character plays well into Ryan Reynolds' wheelhouse and, because of that, I really enjoyed Reynolds in this roll. I thought both he and Daniels were great playing off each other.

All in all, this is a very solid flick that I would definitely recommend you check out.

On the verge of separation from his wife and crippled by harrowing writer's block, Richard Dunn (Jeff Daniels) settles himself into a friend's summer cottage to work on his second novel. His only companion is Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds), a Superman-like superhero who exists only in Richard's mind. Solitude doesn't seem to do the trick, however, and he soon finds himself looking for ways to procrastinate. On a trip into town, he meets and befriends Abby (Emma Stone), a local teenager with a haunted past and only one real friend, a strange boy named Christopher (Kieran Culkin). The two become an unlikely pair and begin to spend more time with each other against the advice of both Captain Excellent and Christopher. Soon Richard is forced to question his life, his relationships, and his profession.

This is a difficult movie to sum up. In essence, "Paper Man" is all about relationships and human interaction, though that may seem difficult to comprehend given that one of the characters is a figment of another's imagination. And yet the interconnecting relationships of Richard and Excellent, Abby and Christopher, and Richard and Abby serve as an illustration of human needs and co-dependence. None of the main characters are complete persons and as such, each needs the other. Directors Kieran and Michele Mulroney give us carefully crafted, well-honed characters that rarely stray from their tendencies as they grow together and therefore, apart. Likewise, all of the leads give outstanding performances and fit their roles perfectly. Daniels and Stone display a natural chemistry that embraces the oddness of their relationship. For perhaps the first time ever, Richard and Abby are allowed to be themselves in each other's company and that comes through beautifully. Stone, in particular, is perhaps more vulnerable and authentic here than in any other movie she's been a part of. Only Lisa Kudrow feels out of place as Richard's overachieving wife, a one-dimensional character who at times fits a tired cliché than she does embrace real humanity. That's more than a bit of a disappointment given than none of the other characters or their interactions stray into the cliché abyss. "Paper Man" is quirky and original with dark overtones that give it depth and edge and a tremendous collection of talent that doesn't go to waste. Quite frankly, I loved this movie and found myself drawn to it with more intensity than just about any film I've seen recently.

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Rule 1, never watch a trailer, I watched it AFTER watching the film and am seriously questioning the mental state of the head of marketing of this film. It is not a comedy, it is a character piece, a drama I guess, but NOT A COMEDY.

It's good, I liked it, for me a 7/10 is a solid film, not bad, but not a a masterpiece. The strength comes from the amazingly good acting and writing. It makes you feel stuff, including awkward, which is good, because that is what movies are supposed to do. Don't be swayed, everything in this film is deliberate, if you felt it, the director wanted you to feel it, that is what good films do.

As I said, acting and writing is superb, and it really comes together in the last act. Starts slow, but it's not boring, just hang on.

I think Captain Excellent works, I don't really know why other people think it didn't, but I never mind breaking the immersion of reality in films.

Good film, go watch if you like characters and stuff.

No matter your sex or what is your age difference, when you find a friend, if it is sincere, you have found one.

A one you can cherish, take care of, and don't listen to others prohibiting you of, because of rules and rules.

Hat's off to Writers, Directors, Jeff Daniels and Emma Stone. Emma, please give your DNA to a sort of preservation bank, perhaps we or our kids get a chance of having your clone as a friend or more if it worked out ;)

A small movie like this, playing with your imagination, emotions and feelings, up to this level? This must be either a proof to talents or something just ran off the normal Hollywood's crap line of production accidentally! /s

Want to witness real talent, feeling yourself in their place? Then this is your chance to appreciate a rare feel good movie, so real, you think you are Richard Dunn. (obviously I'm a male!)

I'm still looking back at the cupboard waiting the fantastic Ryan Reynolds as Captain Excellent to jump out of it!

I wish one day I could find a friend like Abby, giving some sense to my life.

Thank you for such a movie. These are the ones we support with our pockets not those 200 Gazillion Dollar ones targeted only for money and as empty as the popcorn box or the cola bottle at the end.

Open a bottle of wine, and taste this movie with, preferably a Friend.

Cheers!

This was a very touching romantic film with an atypical story line--no wonder it made so little at the box office. :( It wasn't obscene or predictable or full of CGI, just actors who did an incredible job including my favorite Jeff Daniels (also an amazing stage actor) and Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds. Well worth watching. I could so relate to some of the scenes of Jeff Daniels. Been there done that. We can really screw up but still in the end feel selfless love, which I believe is the main theme. Although the actors obviously really cared about their work in the film, there were a few times where reactions didn't seem quite fitting to the situation, and there was some lack of character development in minor characters. Some characters seem to be just a bit too unrealistically pathetic and thus unsympathetic (not believable characters). Emma Stone is thoroughly enchanting and sensual and believable. Its romantic minus a lot of the pain as it is imbued with a greater sense or philosophy of life, and not offensive or raunchy like so many modern romantic comedies. Dreamy. Well paced.