The Paragon

Sometimes i like to dive into odd films that may not be appreciated by some people. When i mean odd films i mean where everything doesn´t make any sense and suddenly you have scenes that comes out of nowhere for no reason. I love this kind of film making and i really appreciate creative directors who dare to do the oppisite and just make the film in their own unique way. Even if it´s not often i discover odd films i try to be on the lookout for them, just in case there might be some fascinating independent films coming out that seems fun. There are some odd films i can highly recommend that i feel should be seen, but let´s just stick with one specific film for now and that is the 2009 drama comedy known as Gentlemen Broncos. Directed Jared Hess ( director of the cult classic Napoleon Dynamite, in my opinion one of the best films of the year of 2004 ), Gentlemen Broncos is definetely a very unique film experience that tells the story of science fiction writer Benjamin Purvis ( Michael Angarano ). He recently finished his sci fi story known as Yeast Lords, which centers on a hero named Bronco ( Sam Rockwell ). While attending a two-day writing camp for aspiring fantasty and science fiction authors, Benjamin attends lectures by his idol, the prolific and pretentious writer Ronald Chevalier ( Jemaine Clement ). Chevalier announces a contest for the writers, in which the winner´s story will be published nationally. As Chevalier reviews the stories from the campers, he gets a call from his publisher, rejecting his latest manuscript. Not knowing what to do Chevalier finds Yeast Lords and decides to use Benjamin´s story and just change some pieces for his own new manuscript. Gentlemen Broncos is a really crazy drama comedy that´s all over the place with science fiction battles and switches over to the ordinary life of Benjamin. The acting in general is really charming and i just love all the crazy things happening for no reason at all, Gentlemen Bronocos should deserve to be a cult film in the future for being so odd and wonderful. Definetely rent this film on VOD or pick up a physical copy of Gentlemen Broncos. Last year a comedy drama from New Zealand caught my attention in a film called The Paragon, a film that reminded me of something odd in the style of director Jared Hess but this specific film is directed by Michael Duignan. Is this a film you simply need to see or is The Paragon too odd and too bizarre to experience at all?

Dutch ( Benedict Wall ) is a crippled man after a hit and run accident, he is frustrated and angry not knowing who hit him with the car. Dutch find a poster with information how to become a psychic. As he takes one of the telephone numbers from the poster, the phone booth next to him rings. The one answering is Lyra ( Florence Nobel ), who promises to help Dutch have psychic powers so he can find out who drove the car that injured him. Dutch go to the adress given to him and this is where his real journey begins, to understand more about himself but also learn how to use psychic powers.

The Paragon is a film that is kind of difficult to describe. On one hand this is a charming story about a man trying to find his way in life while this is also an odd story about what meaning each one of us have in this life ( and in other galaxies and what each galaxy means ). I would say this film is also about learning to use psychic powers and if this sounds weird than trust me, it just gets more weird as the film goes on. And this is one of the things i really appreciate about The Paragon, this is a straight up nerd sci fi comedy that really tries to give us the image that it´s ok not to be the same as everone. We all have different qualities and even if some people might think we are strange, just be yourself and don´t worry too much about it. I would also say this is a film that tries to give us a deeper look how mind control works and how we can learn to use our minds in different ways. There are some really funny scenes in this film where i found myself laughing over the nerdy tone that the odd character Lyra ( played really well by actress Florence Noble ). Her serious tone all the time speaking to Dutch ( played by actor Benedict Wall ) is such a good match that i love hearing her sounding like everything is meant to be taken seriously in life. You are not supposed to enjoy life, you are supposed to be serious every day. There is a great chemistry between the main characters and even if they are very different from each other, and have different views on many things they still seem to get along in some magical way. Even if the science fiction theme do become very obvious in certain scenes with some weird events it doesnt affect the story in any negative way. I personally feel that The Paragon is a film that we need in modern day society, a film that dares to be different and does not follow the typical Hollywood pattern. This is a fun sci fi comedy that really give you a sweet after taste, almost as if you had a desert at a restaurant and feel surprised how much you enjoyed it. Director Michael Duignan proves that you can make intelligent and fun films as long as you have good ideas and great charatcers included, and The Paragon have all of this. If you want to experience something unique and still have a good time, you should definetely rent The Paragon on VOD.

Rating: DDD