I was stoked to learn that “Paper Man,” a new movie starring Jeff Daniels, Emma Stone and my main man, Ryan Reynolds, was showing here in NYC. “Paper Man” is up at just two theaters nationwide…and I can get to one of them by subway.
In the words of my friend Jennifer…
“Rock on.”
In “Paper Man,” Daniels portrays a writer who can’t seem to move forward without the help of his life-long imaginary friend, Captain Excellent (portrayed by Reynolds). Daniels meets Stone — who has her own childhood traumas — and they develop an unlikely — I should have underlined ‘unlikely’ — friendship.
I saw “Paper Man” last night. And I learned two very important things.
Number 1: A funny line does not equal plot.
Number 2: Ryan Reynolds, his buff body so aptly displayed in superhero tights, cannot rescue a movie from the aforementioned lack of plot.
(I think I knew both of these before I sat down. Tragically, the filmmakers did not.)
If “Paper Man” comes to your town and you are moved to see it due to the cast as I was, know that you will still enjoy looking at Ryan Reynolds’ sculpted body. But you can do this by visiting the website or gazing upon the movie poster — no need to actually sit through the film.
That being said, I do think the performances were good. The actors gave the material more than it deserved.
They showed up.
The plot…did not.