Paranoid Park

Theatrical Release Date: 2008 03 07 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 796019813846

Studio: Ifc

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations, Profanity, Sexual Situations]

Summary: A teenage skateboarder has a run-in with a security guard that results in the man's death. Confused, fearful, and evasive, the teen wanders the streets of Portland as his life takes a turn for the worse in director Gus Van Sant's screen adaptation of author Blake Nelson's grim coming-of-age tome. Alex (Gabe Nevins) is a withdrawn 16-year-old boy who has recently discovered Paranoid Park -- a massive skate park in Portland, OR. The Portland skate punks built Paranoid Park so they could have a place to cruise the concrete without being hassled by the cops. One day, after befriending a local skater and anarchist at the park, Alex decides that a little adventure might be just the thing to help him forget about his problems back home. When Alex and his new friend attempt to hop a train and a security guard gives chase, tragedy strikes so quickly that the two teens are barely able to comprehend what has just happened. In the aftermath of the fatal accident, one man is robbed of life and two teens are left to ponder the consequences of their youthful recklessness. Alex doesn't think that anyone will believe him if he explains how events really unfolded that night, but why would anyone have cause to think he wasn't telling the truth in the first place? As the police launch an investigation into the death and Alex begins to express himself in a deeply personal diary, the audience is able to experience the pain and confusion of adolescence from the perspective of a young boy who was only seeking to escape from reality when suddenly confronted by the concept of mortality. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Special 60th Anniversary Award – Cannes Film Festival Film Presented – Toronto International Film Festival Film Presented – New York Film Festival Film Presented – Vancouver International Film Festival Best Feature – Independent Spirit Awards Best Feature – Independent Spirit Awards Best Director – Independent Spirit Awards Producers Award – Independent Spirit Awards Film Presented – Rotterdam International Film Festival Best Cinematography – Boston Society of Film Critics Best Director – Boston Society of Film Critics Best Cinematography – Boston Society of Film Critics

Paranoid Park

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 10/07/2008

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 84 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Paranoid Park
1. Paranoid Park [5:10]
2. To the Office [7:54]
3. Just Homework [3:08]
4. Saturday Night [5:52]
5. Where Do You Live? [5:53]
6. New Board [3:36]
7. News Break [4:36]
8. Skater Kids [6:56]
9. Train Ride [5:29]
10. Clean Up [3:49]
11. Sleep [4:01]
12. Going To the Mall [6:29]
13. Together [4:50]
14. Break Up [6:52]
15. Write a Letter [5:30]
16. End Credits [4:08]

Perry Seibert

Paranoid Park, Gus Van Sant's first film since his aesthetically and thematically linked death trilogy (Gerry, Elephant, Last Days), represents yet another moment when Van Sant sheds his most recent style and takes inspiration in something new. Adapted from a book by Blake Nelson, Paranoid Park is a coming-of-age tale about Alex (Gabe Nevins), a teenage skater who responds to the world around him with a humble disinterest. He is unmoved by everything, be it the war in Iraq, his parents divorce, or the sexual advances of the cute girl who calls herself his girlfriend. Only when he makes his first visit to the title skate park -- a place so intimidating that, at first, he's not sure he can handle it -- does the young man discover something that alters his perception of both himself and the world. At his best, Van Sant imbues mundane reality with potent lyricism. In that regard, Paranoid Park may be the most quintessential expression of his outsized talent. With the help of the supremely gifted cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Van Sant loads the film with slow camera moves that at first communicate the main character's disassociation, but later help explain the beauty and the weight of the world as he now perceives it. Newcomer Gabe Nevins imbues Alex with a startling amount of commonality. He is neither a romanticized loner nor an unstable troublemaker, but simply an inarticulate -- though certainly not unintelligent -- 16-year-old trying to come to grips with a profound loss of innocence. From lying to his mother to listening to his overly sensitive younger brother to just driving around in his mom's car, Alex can and does interact with those around him, but his life-changing night at Paranoid Park makes him appreciate everybody, including himself, just a little more. Paranoid Park is a quiet film full of subtle but important moments of character development that are intensely moving thanks to the unobtrusively beautiful camerawork and the naturalistic acting. Even if the movie's low-key modesty will keep many people from considering it among the greatest of Van Sant's films, it might very well be his most representative. Gus Van Sant remains one of the few commercially successful directors willing to continually reinvent himself. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Marin Karmitz  Producer 
Gus Van Sant  Director 
Gus Van Sant  Screenwriter 
Neil Kopp  Producer 
David Allen Cress  Producer 
Nathanael Karmitz  Producer 
Gabe Nevins  Actor 
Taylor Momsen  Actor 
Jake Miller  Actor 
Dan Liu  Actor 
Lauren McKinney  Actor 
Scott Green  Actor 

Country: France,USA