Paper Man

Paper Man
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kieran Mulroney Michele Mulroney
Produced by	Richard N. Gladstein
Written by	Kieran Mulroney Michele Mulroney
Starring	Jeff Daniels Emma Stone Ryan Reynolds Lisa Kudrow
Music by	Mark McAdam
Cinematography	Eigil Bryld
Editing by	Sam Seig
Studio	FilmColony
Distributed by	MPI Media Group
Release date(s)	June 15, 2009 (2009-06-15) (LA) April 23, 2010 (2010-04-23)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$13,514[1]

Paper Man is a 2009 independent comedy-drama film written and directed by Kieran and Michele Mulroney.

Plot

Richard is a failed novelist who still talks to his childhood imaginary superhero friend, Captain Excellent. At the urging of his wife Claire, Richard has moved to a Long Island beach community for the winter season in order to overcome his writer's block.

There, Richard meets 17-year-old Abby and hires her as a weekly babysitter, even though he has no children. Their tenuous friendship is sparked by Richard's awe over Abby's youth and innocence and Abby's enjoyment of Richard's writing. They eventually grow so close that their relationships seems to be similar to that of a father and daughter. Abby tells Richard about her twin sister, Amy's, death, while Richard confides in her about his failing marriage. Meanwhile Christopher, who has been there for Abby since Amy's death, watches her relationship with Richard grow, and though he feels neglected by Abby, all he wants is for her to be happy, no matter what that means for him. In the end Richard and Abby must face the reality of their lives, with Abby standing up to her loutish boyfriend and Richard bidding goodbye to Captain Excellent once and for all.

Cast

• Lisa Kudrow as Claire Dunn
• Jeff Daniels as Richard Dunn
• Ryan Reynolds as Captain Excellent
• Emma Stone as Abby
• Kieran Culkin as Christopher
• Hunter Parrish as Bryce
• Arabella Field as Lucy

Release

Paper Man was first shown at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. MPI Media Group acquired the rights to show the film in North America and it was given a limited release on April 23, 2010.

Critical reception

Paper Man received poor reviews from critics, receiving 27% from Rotten Tomatoes with a weighted mean score of 4.6 out of 10^[2] and a score of 37 out of 100 at Metacritic based out of 15 reviews.^[3] Mick LaSalle of The San Francisco Chronicle called the film "listless, tepid, lifeless and fake". Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said it was "Off-kilter and awkward from the get-go, this comedy never finds any rhythm or reason". Nevertheless, the performances were well received, with Stone taking the lions' share of the praise.^[2]

References

External links

• Official website
• Paper Man at the Internet Movie Database
• Paper Man at AllRovi
• Paper Man at Box Office Mojo
• Paper Man at Rotten Tomatoes
• Paper Man at Metacritic