Paterson

2016

1h 58m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

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15 Videos

73 Images

Drama

Comedy

Romance

A week in the life of Paterson, a poet bus driver, and his wife Laura, a very creative artist, who live in Paterson, New Jersey, hometown of many famous poets and artists.

Directors

Jim Jarmusch

Writers

Jim Jarmusch(writer by)

Sara Driver(script consultant by)

Stars

Adam Driver

Golshifteh Farahani

Nellie

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Top cast

Paterson

Laura

Marvin

Donny

Doc

William Jackson Harper

Everett

Marie

Boy on Bus 1

Boy on Bus 2

Sam

Dave

Jimmy

Luis

Blood in Convertible

Woman in Red

Female Student

Male Student

Directors

Jim Jarmusch

Writers

Jim Jarmusch(writer by)

Sara Driver(script consultant by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

On the face of it, there is nothing remarkable about this eponymous bus driver who might have been named after his town. He (Adam Driver) shares his home with wife “Laura” (Golshifteh Farahani) and their’s is an happy marriage. Each morning, he heads to his depot where he has the usual chat with his glass-half-empty colleague “Donny” (Rizwan Manji) before setting off driving route 23. She has prepared his sandwich for lunch and that sustains him until he returns home at the end of the working day for some chat, some telly, maybe the occasional movie and then finally taking her dog for it’s final constitutional of the day - and nipping into the pub for a swift half en route. Fortunately for him, and us, there are other influences on his day and these are frequently the cause of some consternation, or entertainment, as his pals routinely row in the boozer, or his passengers ramble on within earshot or even when his bus breaks down. All of this provides his vivid imagination with the fodder for poetry. Not the stuff of rhyming couplets or limericks, but more the sort of poetic still-life stories that Emily Dickinson or William Carlos Williams might have conjured from their imaginations. His work is most definitely not for publication, though. Indeed he is reluctant enough to share his prose - especially his last work written in his newly acquired secret book - even with his wife. Then something happens that gives him an opportunity to recalibrate. No, not on a life-changing nor tragic basis, just something that offers him an hitherto unexplored perspective on a life that he so readily sums up - usually to “Donny” - as satisfyingly “good”. “Laura”, the ying to his yang, lives an altogether more vibrant existent with her days rarely repeating themselves. She fancies herself a bit of a Dolly Parton or Emmylou Harris; or perhaps she can become a global cupcake magnate but whatever she wants for herself she wants for him, too. She is his muse to an extent, if you like, and gives him an underlying confidence to take much in his stride. Driver delivers a measured and considered effort here and it’s an engaging one, too, as we begin to see just a little of what makes him tick (or not). Both Farahani and the young Sterling Jerins serve well as foils of his, but also of characters with their own distinct purpose in this largely observational drama. At times it’s delicate and intense, at times it’s actually quite funny and as a look at how adaptable our brains can be when faced with immutable mundanity, it works well.

Geronimo196711 Sep, 2025