Reviewing Every Paul Dano Film

Just a little project I've started during exam season for fun

[mookinng]

him trying to read a blank piece of paper

[pattinsonsupremacy]

the riddler core

[no-thoughts-at-all]

Gotham (2014-2019) / The Batman (2022)

[mookinng]

[noivey]

the difference between being 5'11 and 6' online

[mookinng]

he is so boyfriend

[riddlersbimbo]

Paul Dano as Light Light and the Sufferer (2007)

[lousolversons]

Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/The Riddler in The Batman (2022), Dir. Matt Reeves

[pattinsonsupremacy]

me choosing a movie to watch

[everypauldanofilmranked]

For Ellen (2012)

For Ellen is a heartfelt familial drama, starring Paul Dano as a floundering musician and father named Joby Taylor. Against a backdrop of lonely snowy landscapes and a deluge of hard rock hits, the film tackles emotional weight and responsibility in a sympathetic look at a deadbeat father.

For Ellen revolves around the titular Ellen Taylor (Shaylena Mandigo) as divorced parents Claire (Margarita Levieva) and Joby (Paul Dano) bid for custody. It follows Joby in his desperate attempt at connecting with his daughter amidst the confusion, and the fracturing relationships with his lawyer Fred (Jon Heder) and girlfriend Susan (Jena Malone).

The Good

Paul Dano single-handedly carries For Ellen. It's evident that he cared about the role and its subject matter in such a delicate way: the humanity and depth he brings to the worn out deadbeat father trope is refreshing, and Joby's characterisation again shows the range of Dano's acting. He's soft and unapologetic and a little confused, and his rock'n'roll bad boy demeanour is so well thought out. At times, you forget Joby Taylor isn't a real person - Dano is sensitive and personal in that way.

The film is given a welcome addition with Jon Heder as Fred Butler, Joby's lawyer. Heder excels at looking slightly uncomfortable with Joby, but ultimately sympathetic. Shaylena Mandigo as Ellen Taylor never drags the story down with bad child acting: quite the opposite, with her sombre and timid attitude deepening the feeling that Joby is doomed.

Costume design was done by Logan Riese, and he brings Joby to life with painted nails, stacked necklaces, statement rings, and a beautifully designed brown leather jacket (I'm telling the truth, I couldn't stop looking at it). This visual characterisation is part of what brings For Ellen to life, as it fleshes Joby out until he's as real as any guy you'd find at a bar. The little touches of his chipped nail polish as the film progresses adds to the realism.

Reed Morano Walker directed the film's cinematography, featuring lingering shots of snowy landscapes at sunrise, in emptiness. The shot composition can be beautiful sometimes. There's a scene where we're watching Joby on the phone with Claire, through a small glass window on the front door. It feels intrusive, like we're listening in on something raw.

For Ellen emphasises the communication barrier between a father and his daughter, during emotionally-charged life events like divorce. Having experienced the same thing myself, I adore the film's portrayal of confusion and misunderstanding, and those endless days spent at shopping malls with a parent who can barely navigate life on their own. The vulnerability of Joby being nervous to talk to his own daughter is amazing. There is real complexity and strangeness to familial relationships - Joby even asks Ellen "what do you think about me?" and her lack of a proper response is exasperating. Of course, you cannot ask a child something like that. The audience shares in our pity on Joby and his frustration at having a daughter who does not see him as her father, no matter how hard he tries.

We never hear about the context of the divorce, nor anything from Claire's perspective. It's this that really cemented For Ellen as a beautiful film, in its dedication to examining and exhibiting Joby's mental state and the actions he takes out of desperation. We watch him spiral for an hour and forty minutes, reaching pathetic lows and powerful highs. Like I said, Dano carries this film, and its through his careful and dynamic portrayal that the intricacies of Joby Taylor come through.

The Bad

For Ellen starts off slow, in part due to the myriad of scenes that add nothing to the narrative. Scenes where a fly flies into Joby's ear, where Joby dances to Whitesnake at a bar while his child custody lawyer looks on, etcetera etcetera. I understand the artistic merits the director was likely going for, but the film drags at the start because of this, potentially pushing viewers away.

Something small that stood out to me was the line, "remember when I wanted Ellen and you didn't? And it was me who stopped you from aborting her?" Abortion first came to mind when hearing the first sentence. The additional dialogue felt stilted and over-explanatory. It's something little and unimpactful, but this film really excels at its expositional dialogue, and it was disappointing to see it slip so easily.

The Rating

I didn't think I would love For Ellen the way that I do. It could be the close subject matter, or the beauty of Paul Dano's acting, but it's the perfect type of character-driven exploration that I'd do anything to see more of Dano in. If you aren't prepared for a meandering and slow burning storyline, this isn't for you (and you should stop leaving it bad reviews!) But, if you want to see something heartfelt and dedicated, by all means enjoy this film as much as I did.

I give For Ellen (2012) an 8/10.

[everypauldanofilmranked]

There Will Be Blood (2007)

There Will Be Blood is a thematically rich period drama film, starring Paul Dano as a charismatic young preacher named Eli Sunday. Weaving together themes of capitalist greed and religious dependency, the film highlights polarities of desperation and the human condition, making for a relentless watch.

The film follows oilman Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he strikes gold during the South California oil boom, through acquiring land in and around the Sunday ranch. This stokes the ire of the local preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), whose conflict with Plainview is explored alongside Plainview's relationship with his adopted son H.W. (Dillon Freasier, Russell Harvard).

The Good

Oh, where to start! Dano holds his own against Day-Lewis throughout the entire film - the two of them have incredibly strong characterisation, and play off each other insanely well. Dano's "get out of here ghost!" scene perfectly demonstrates his acting style and those intense emotions he can flip between at the drop of a hat. His character Eli is snide and irritating and deeply frightened, and even the way Dano carries himself shows that. Day-Lewis shines his brightest here, especially towards the end of the film, where Plainview's confrontation with Eli ties the film's events together in theatrical finality.

There Will Be Blood's sound design is beyond anything I've heard before. The loud drone at the very opening persists into the first fifteen minutes, returning again and again and blending into the score to create dynamic tension. Listening closely, you can hear the sound of the baby's cries woven into the sound design. Later on, when a gas blowout destroys the drilling infrastructure, the music descends into a cacophony of sound that intensifies in perfect line with the plot. The whole thing is gorgeously sickening.

Its visuals are unexpectedly powerful. Watching the gas blowout result in a fire consuming the infrastructure, turning the skies black, our characters blackened by oil: tell me that's not symbolic of the way oil overshadows Plainview's motives and the world in which he lives. There's also a visual parallel between Plainview's job as a silver miner at the beginning and his disposal of an imposter's body, signalling the progression of his values and motives. Eli's costume design (done artfully by Mark Bridges) also changes from period-typical indications of poverty into that smartly dressed preacherman at the end: he wore the giant silver cross outside of his shirt collar instead of tucked underneath it, perhaps indicating that careless desperation to prove his religiosity.

Dylan Tichenor's editing is careful and lingering. The film gives you a long time with its characters, crafting a deep and extensive knowledge of what motivates them, what drives them mad. The relationship between Eli and Plainview flips between one getting back at the other, in the forms of humiliating beatings and declarations of failure during church. It's the very last scene where Plainview bludgeons Eli to death with a bowling pin that their antagonism ends. This scene has been criticised for being overdramatic and theatrical, but that's precisely why I love it. It's about the culmination of Plainview's descent into greed and Eli's failure at living up to God's expectations. They're both flawed sinners, and while Eli embraces this as something they can relate with, Plainview grasps the opportunity to humiliate Eli. It's about breaking point and comeuppance, the idea of retribution.

Alongside religious themes, There Will Be Blood quietly examines the consequences of unfettered capitalism on the human condition. Plainview raises H.W. as his own after the boy's father dies in a drilling accident, making him his nominal business partner. When the gas blowout causes H.W. to lose his hearing, Plainview ditches him as easily as he picked him up. Plainview's humanity is subject to financial viability.

The Bad

Aside from a short slowing of the plot about halfway through, there's nothing There Will Be Blood falls short in. It may be self-important and overwrought, but those qualities are all part of its magnificence, don't you think? (It's me, I think so)

The Rating

There's never been a better time to watch There Will Be Blood, amidst the Paul Dano renaissance and a cultural discussion over unrestrained capitalist greed. Richard Schickel described it as "a mesmerizing meditation on the American spirit in all its maddening ambiguities", and I can only hope I managed to articulate that.

I give There Will Be Blood (2007) a 9/10.

[everypauldanofilmranked]

Looper (2012)

Looper is an introspective action-science fiction film, starring Paul Dano as a time-travelling crime syndicate assassin named Seth. Against the backdrop of the future Kansas City, where a space age aesthetic meets covert poverty, Looper tells the story of a twisting confrontation between a past and future self, and does so with style.

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as time-travelling assassin Joe (the titular 'looper') and Bruce Willis as his future self, the film explores popular what-ifs associated with time travel - predestination, autonomy, and of course, saving lives by stopping a particular event. In Looper's case, the main plotline unfolds when Joe's future self embarks on a mission to murder three young boys, one of which will grow up to become a powerful crime figure known as the Rainmaker.

The Good

My favourite part of this film is the set design: credited to Katherine Verreaux, the blend of futurism and gritty rundown architecture emphasises the criminal world Joe operates in. Little details like the door to Joe's flat and the mirrored corridor in Suzie's (Piper Perabo) bedroom make dreamlike glamour sit alongside bleak futurism. Steven Yedlin's expressive cinematography makes it all the more fun - the first half of Looper is so visually pleasing that everything else practically takes a backseat.

Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt steal the show as the main talent, both delivering powerful, convincing performances. Jeff Daniels as the crime syndicate leader Abe is a source of sharp dialogue and dynamism. Not to mention Noah Segan as the naïve Kid Blue happens to be my unlikely favourite performance, bringing a new flare to the usual criminal character archetypes.

Dano's appearance is absolutely welcome and all too short. His character is mutilated and killed about twenty minutes in; the sequence with his future self gradually losing body parts until he's crawling desperately towards the address of his present self, consequently shot callously by the organisation he once worked for was insane, and highlights everything that works for Looper.

Its strengths lie in the way it carefully examines popular time travel concepts without feeling tired and overdone. Meshing the criminal underworld with a science fiction trope has yet to be done so flawlessly and innovatively. Worldbuilding is not at the film's centre, but the universe of Looper feels calculated and deliberate. I can only wish the initial feeling of awe didn't disappear halfway through, however.

The Bad

With around forty minutes left, Looper descends into comic book territory. The telekinesis plotline around the unsuspecting young child Cid (Pierce Gagnon) felt out of place, especially when the dangers and power of time travel have been prominent themes throughout the film. The addition of telekinesis initially felt irrelevant at best and nonsensical at worst, but by the end of the film, I started to wish it stayed an undeveloped dud of a plotline, instead of mutating into something cliché and unwelcome. The attraction of the Looper universe (if you will) lies in that aforementioned contrast between realism and futurism, and telekinesis upsets the balance completely.

I can't finish this review without talking about Gordon-Levitt's jarring prosthetics that show up halfway through the film. They're an impressive attempt at making him look more like Willis, his future self, but I honestly didn't recognise Gordon-Levitt at first and thought his character was someone else completely. But there you go.

The Rating

Despite starting off strong, Looper falls victim to cliched writing and convoluted storylines. But I will defend this film all I can, if only for the beauty of the first half, the way it blends glamour and dirt so effortlessly. It's a welcome addition to the pantheon of time travel films, and thankfully stands out for all the right reasons.

I give Looper (2012) a 6/10.

[everypauldanofilmranked]

Okja (2017)

Okja is an emotionally-driven action-adventure film, starring Paul Dano as the leader of an animal rights activist group named Jay. Directed by the renowned Bong Joon-ho, Okja brings the meat industry to the forefront of discussion in an exploration of animal suffering, against the backdrop of a larger-than-life CEO and fantastical CGI.

The film tells the story of the titular Okja, a genetically modified "super pig" who becomes the object of public awe after winning the title of the Best Super Pig, under the control of the dubious Mirando Corporation. Okja was raised by a young girl named Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun) in the wilderness of South Korea, and when Mirando separate the two in order to slaughter Okja for meat, the plot is set in motion.

The Good

Tilda Swinton is by far the best thing about Okja. She delivers a convincingly human portrayal of the Mirando Corporation's CEO Lucy Mirando, weaving straight-edge business sensibilities with stark vulnerability. Okja is ultimately about the moral contrast between corporations and humanity, and Swinton's performance treats this concept well without veering into cartoon villain territory (not even once!)

Our heroes are found in the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a group of animal rights activists led by Jay (Paul Dano). While they suffer from unimaginative characterisation and a few terrible dialogue choices, I admire the film for its positive portrayal of a disruptive yet non-violent political group. ALF is indeed a real organisation, frequently labelled as eco-terrorists by the press. Okja takes a bold sympathetic route that underlines its main ethical points with conviction.

The ethical message in question is one that puts the interests of humanity and the interests of corporations in deep contrast. Having seen Okja's capabilities of intelligence and friendship, Mija knows the true nature of the super pigs; having seen the brutality of the Mirando Corporation and the meat industry in general, the ALF know the true nature of so-called "ethical" slaughterhouses. These two truths go hand in hand to promote the message that the slaughter of super pigs is morally wrong: and it doesn't take a genius to apply this sentiment to the real-life meat industry. Certainly, Okja's design was based both on the Meishan pig and the African elephant, two docile and intelligent species that many consider morally wrong to slaughter for meat, and she shares traits with both cows and other livestock. Okja wants to show you why the mass slaughter of fictional super pigs is morally wrong, and to ask you why the real-life slaughter of livestock should be any different.

This message is exemplified towards the end of the film, where Mija attempts to stop Okja's slaughter by showing the slaughterhouse worker a photograph of Mija and a baby Okja. This works, and the worker hesitates in killing Okja. It is only until the Mirando higher-ups appear that the worker is demanded to resume the process. Then, it is the business proposal of the sale of a pure gold pig (given to Mija by her grandfather) that eventually saves Okja. The worker and the CEO are fundamentally incompatible, morally, because the meat industry relies heavily on the dilution of its wrongdoings. It relies on the general public failing to see the humanity in the animals they consume. This view is radical and yet subtle in its presentation, avoiding anything sanctimonious, which is where the beauty of Okja lies.

The Bad

The script was written by director Bong Joon-ho with filmmaker Jon Ronson helping to develop the English-speaking characters. Unfortunately, Ronson didn't help enough, because almost the entirety of the ALF suffer from poorly-written dialogue (looking at you, Devon Bostick). Paul Dano does the best he can with the script, but lines like "'til we meet again" awkwardly shoved in before Jay jumps out of a moving van cheapens the tone and makes him appear flat and two-dimensional. The part where he says to Devon Bostick's character, "your pallid complexion concerns me" mirrored Patrick Bateman in the worst way possible. Bong Joon-ho wrote the part of Jay specifically for Dano, but the script works in such a way that practically anyone could have played Jay and the film would have got along just fine.

Speaking of performances, Jake Gyllenhaal makes his appearance as a washed-up TV zoologist Johnny Wilcox, who he plays as a disturbed hypocrite. While such a characterisation is absolutely welcome in Okja, there are parts where his performance is distracting and jarring.

The story also staggers a little when the ALF dump a ton of exposition onto Mija after they intercept Okja on her way to NYC. A good half of the information could have been conveyed through a more imaginative medium, such as a news report, and saved us time watching Dano navigate his way across a clunky script.

The Rating

Okja is saved by its strong socio-political themes and an array of likeable and dynamic characters. It manages to avoid the preachiness of a topic like animal rights by carefully tailoring its message to appeal to even the staunchest of meat-eaters. And I believe that's what Okja is primarily for: a display into the what-ifs of genetically modified meat production, a polite nod towards the validity of activists, rather than something to be taken at face-value.

I give Okja (2017) a 6/10.

[everypauldanofilmranked]

Prisoners (2013)

Prisoners is a fast-paced suspense thriller, starring Paul Dano as an intellectually disabled kidnapping suspect named Alex. Alongside an ensemble cast including big names like Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, Prisoners creates acute tension and rising conflict like nothing else.

The film tells the story of 2 girls who go missing on Thanksgiving and the subsequent search for their whereabouts, aided by their grieving and volatile families. Alex Jones (Paul Dano) is immediately suspected of having kidnapped the girls, but as the work of Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) moves the story forwards, the true nature of the girls' disappearance and the town's long connected history are revealed.

The Good

It would be a waste of review without gushing about how amazing Dano's acting is in this film. Since his character cannot articulate himself very well, a large proportion of Dano's acting is in his body language, and he absolutely kills it. On first watch, the viewer can interpret his nervous glances and reserved nature as an admission of guilt, and the first act of Prisoners is certainly based around the idea that Alex is hiding his role in kidnapping the girls. But as we discover at the end, Alex was a victim of kidnapping himself and suffered from something akin to Stockholm Syndrome. The second viewing of Prisoners will reveal multiple dimensions to Dano's acting, where Alex's suspicious behaviour comes off instead as someone frightened under duress. Furthermore, the second half of the film sees Alex trapped in a dark room with only a fraction of his face visisble, where Dano's voice becomes his character's medium.

The beauty of Prisoners is how intricately it weaves characters' stories together. While it was nominated for an Academy Award for Cinematography, there's nothing particularly visually experimental going on in the film, save for the arrest of Alex Jones at the beginning. Instead, its strengths lie in the intense personal conflict and the exhibition of trauma and emotional friction. In an interview, Dano stated that it was a film about "how people can become prisoners of their own lives". This sentiment is best expressed by Hugh Jackman's performance as Keller Dover, bringing unrivaled anger and resentment. The criminal investigation almost takes a back seat to the display and exploration of emotion.

Part of what gave Prisoners its R rating is the beautifully intricate practical effects, in particular the detailed depiction of burned and scalded skin. Unlike other films of similar genres, it's not only the graphic injury that leaves a lasting impact, but the context under which it happens. Something I think viewers can easily miss is that everyone involved lives in the same neighbourhood, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere that the film exploits.

The Bad

Prisoners sees its events tied up neatly into a little bow (with one notable exception). Despite one of its main strengths being the depiction of interpersonal conflict, in an infuriating editoral move, it skips over what could have been a pivotal point of the narrative. Over the course of the film, Keller traps Alex in an abandoned house and repeatedly tortures him for answers about his daughter's whereabouts. The moment where Detective Loki is about to discover this fades to black before we can see his reaction. The original cut of Prisoners was over three hours long, and understandably due to its fast-paced nature, some scenes were cut for brevity among other things. But it feels like a missed opportunity to cut a scene that would have revealed deeper emotions and beliefs on Loki's side.

The Rating

Prisoners is not the type of film I usually enjoy. It's a long-winded psychological thriller that wastes little time in showing intensity and depravity. But there's something refreshing and subversive about it, if only for the energy it's given by its execution.

I give Prisoners (2013) an 8/10.

[everypauldanofilmranked]

The Girl Next Door (2004)

The Girl Next Door is a tonally confused romantic comedy, starring Paul Dano as an awkward teenager named Klitz. It combines vaguely misogynistic humour with poorly-aged romcom beats and the tenderness of late high school friendship to make something strange and far-fetched. Good luck tearing your eyes away from it, though.

On paper, The Girl Next Door tells the story of everyman Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch), who falls in love with the girl next door, Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert), who turns out to be a porn actress. In practise it is a story about graduation, senior prom, sexual autonomy, friendship, manipulation, and betrayal, against a backdrop of early-2000s pop rock. So much of this film revolves around pornography that it feels right to call it a "sex comedy", except it bizarrely handles the concepts of sex and pornography more maturely than most "sex comedies" out there (but not infallibly, which we'll get into later).

The Good

The Girl Next Door finds its unlikely gem in Timothy Olyphant, who absolutely kills it as pornography producer Kelly. He offers a much-needed sophistication with his delivery on lines like "this is breaking and entering / this is politics". He has great chemistry with Hirsch and watching him on screen is delightful.

Both Eli (Chris Marquette) and Klitz (Paul Dano) are convincing as Matthew's loser friends. Despite delivering some tired and poorly-aged jokes on identity, Eli serves as the main source of comic relief and does it well ("if you don't fuck her, I'll kill myself" comes to mind).

Costume designer Marilyn Vance clearly had a vision for Danielle's wardrobe, and it pays off. The suede jackets and crystal necklaces emphasise the powerful yet approachable sides of her. Set designer John Berger has his moment at the Las Vegas adult film convention, which is suitably slick and glitzy.

There are several interesting creative choices with camerawork in the film, and it's a shame they're few and far between. The montage of Las Vegas and the confrontation between Matthew and Kelly at school both use exciting sequences and camerawork, however briefly.

While the plot starts off contrived and predictable, the $30 grand subplot and a genuinely enjoyable third act save the film from blending into the background as yet another early-00s sex flick. It takes a while to find its feet, but when it does, you can't look away.

The Bad

The Girl Next Door takes a while to decide what kind of film it wants to be, and for that reason, the myriad of plot developments can initially seem convoluted. During the first act, only Danielle is fleshed out enough to be likeable, Eli's personality remains entrenched in the sex-obsessed teenage boy trope, and Klitz barely says anything memorable. I wouldn't be surprised if it transpired that the first third of the film was dragged out of a rubbish bin for boring teen comedy ideas and lopped onto the start of a separate, more interesting script.

Matthew comes off as unlikeable in a few scenes, not least the one where he follows Danielle to the adult film convention in Vegas and embarrassingly attempts to reconcile while she's on stage doing her job. His persistence is presented as romantic, and not the least bit creepy. Unlike his earlier behaviour of watching Danielle get undressed in front of her window, Matthew never gets his comeuppance for this and is in fact rewarded with Danielle's affections.

The suspension of disbelief occasionally crosses into parody. During the opening, Matthew laments that he isn't one of the popular kids, who always skip school to go to the beach. I had to rewatch to make sure I wasn't misinterpreting that part as a commentary on how unbelievable teen comedies make their lives seem. But it's played completely straight. As is the scene where Kelly, a grown man, somehow enters the school and storms into class to shout at Matthew, and the one where the principle discovers a consent form for pornography lying around school and decides not to think about it further after Matthew unconvincingly denies any knowledge of it.

Danielle's job choice as a porn actress is not explicitly presented as degrading or morally wrong, but the film pushes the idea that it was "the wrong job for her". This is despite any confirmation from Danielle about her thoughts and feelings around pornography (this is never discussed). The heavy themes of sex work are underdeveloped and ambiguous.

Also underdeveloped is the sense of friendship between Matthew, Eli, and Klitz. Only until the third act do we feel as though they're a convincing friend group - and it's definitely not because of the "we're a tripod" thing they try to introduce at the end. I can't remember the full phrase, which should give you an idea on how weak it was.

The Rating

The Girl Next Door was, despite its flaws, an enjoyable watch. You get a cool mix of "so bad it's good" and "oh shit this is kind of good" for 1hr40mins. Just don't think about it for too long, I beg of you, or else it falls apart. Why do they allow 17-18 year olds to become so intertwined with pornography production? Why would teachers distribute a sex education film to the school that they know contains footage of another student's penis? Just turn it off!

I give The Girl Next Door (2004) a 5/10.