Paranoid Park

Gus van Sant's Paranoid Park examines the process of creative writing. Within, we enter Alex's (Gabe Nevins) dreamland wherein the boundaries between reality and fiction fluctuate, oscillating within a non-linear structure that closely resembles a skateboarding park. Paranoid is really well crafted and the only component that truncates its performance is inherent in its form. A form which, mischievously enough, has found a way to blame the viewer for their own boredom. Within the film's content, we enter Alex's mind as he tries to write a story. We are then challenged to fill in the details of the story ourselves, as the sustained close-ups and long, drawn out pauses suggest (or the scenes where the music frequently changes). Hence, if you cannot create your own story to fit between the frames, you will likely find this feature dull, for which you only have your dull imagination to blame. Within this frame, van Sant has managed to actively represent what it means to engage in creative writing, criticism, painting, thereby providing his viewers with a split-second crash course in imagination, a masterful display of formative genius.