--- title: "Paterson: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/paterson/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/paterson" critics_score: 84 critics_reviews: 25 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Paterson (2016): what the critics said Critics' score 84 from 25 reviews: 24 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics warmly recommend Paterson, with praise centred on Adam Driver’s restrained performance and Jim Jarmusch’s patient attention to daily life. The reviews repeatedly find humour, tenderness and creative purpose in the bus driver’s routines, admiring how the repeating structure allows small changes to matter. Driver’s watchfulness gives the quiet scenes weight, while the measured pacing, photography and use of poetry draw praise for bringing his inner life onto the screen without requiring much conventional plot. The differences are chiefly in enthusiasm, with reservations about whimsy and characterisation rather than widespread dissatisfaction. Evening Standard finds some poems dull and the sweetness occasionally cloying, while Film Comment questions the characterisation of Laura. The Hollywood Reporter is more reserved, describing modest pleasures aimed at Jarmusch admirers and noting the attention given to the dog’s reactions; most critics find considerably more substance in the same uneventful approach. ## Little White Lies — Sophie Monks Kaufman Rating 5/5/5. 23 November 2016. Jarmusch crafts an immaculate, perfectly paced film that finds sublime meaning amid routine, with Driver’s performance cementing his status as an actor who makes the smallest actions magnetic. The critic praises the measured pacing, silences, and the way the film evokes poetry through observation and relationships. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/paterson) ## The i Paper — Matthew Turner Rating ★★★★★. 25 November 2016. The critic calls it possibly the best film of the year, praising its calm pace and charming, quietly melancholy world. Driver and Farahani deliver wonderful, soulful performances that highlight the characters' decency and love. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/paterson-review-33278) ## The Telegraph — Tim Robey Rating 5/5. 24 November 2016. The film is special and will be treasured for its calm wisdom, attentive observation of daily life and coincidences in a quiet New Jersey town. The critic singles out Adam Driver's mellow charisma and the precise, mantra-like structure for praise. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/05/16/paterson-review-adam-drivers-performance-will-be-treasured-for-y/) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★★. 25 November 2016. Jarmusch delivers a perfect, thrilling rumination on poetry, creativity and finding meaning in simple acts through the story of a bus-driving poet. The critic singles out the mimetic aspects of poetry and the film's lack of conventional plot as strengths. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/film-review-paterson-fhl2j6l6q) ## The AV Club — A.A. Dowd Rating A. 21 December 2016. The critic praises the film as a sublimely mellow comedy about everyday life that respects both the ordinariness and artistry of its blue-collar hero. It highlights the lead performance and the way the film aligns the audience with the protagonist's observant perspective. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/adam-driver-mellows-out-in-jim-jarmusch-s-beautiful-ode-1798190040) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 24 November 2016. Jarmusch's film is a gentle, unironic delight celebrating simple everyday goodness and a happy marriage through the life of a poetic bus driver. The critic singles out Adam Driver's open, beguiling performance for praise. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/24/paterson-review-adam-driver-jim-jarmusch) ## Sight and Sound — Henry K. Miller Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 24 November 2016. Jarmusch’s Paterson is a quietly utopian film and a balm to watch, a wistful paean to analogue values and homespun identities. The critic singles out its unhurried pacing and the way everyday routine and the city itself are invested with poetry. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-paterson-jim-jarmuschs-retro-idyll) ## Slant Magazine — Jake Cole Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 23 September 2016. The critic highlights the film's sunny aesthetic as a departure for Jarmusch and praises its depiction of routine as a source of contentment rather than drudgery. It singles out the relatable protagonist and the honest, observational poetry for enlivening an already happy existence. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/paterson/) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 30 December 2016. Jarmusch conjures an entire world of his own imagination in this film about a poet and his poems. It singles out the movie’s construction in seven episodic stanzas that echo and vary daily routines while filling the screen with poetry. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/jim-jarmuschs-paterson-and-the-myth-of-the-solitary-artist) ## Empire — Helen O'Hara Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 21 November 2016. The critic describes it as a profoundly understated character study stuffed with charm and humour but devoid of major incident. Driver's still, deep performance is singled out as one of his best, making the film one of Jarmusch’s finest. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/paterson-review/) ## Film Comment — Jonathan Romney Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). The critic describes it as a deeply felt, goofily conceptual hymn to the democratic nature of poetry and the richness of ordinary life. He praises its beautiful cinematography and contemplative style while noting reservations about the characterization of Laura. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/film-week-paterson/) ## IndieWire — Eric Kohn Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 15 May 2016. Festival review. The review calls it Jarmusch's most intimate film, highlighting its quiet focus on the protagonist's inner world and daily routines. It praises the understated performances and the director's personal touch. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/cannes-review-adam-driver-stars-in-jim-jarmuschs-paterson-his-most-intimate-film-290526/) ## Radio Times — Emma Simmonds Rating 4/5. Jarmusch is at his most refined, carefully chronicling the humble exploits of one of life’s observers in a beautifully photographed, contemplative stroll. The critic praises the film’s soothing quality, Driver’s superb performance, and the insight into the protagonist’s remarkable interior life through his verse. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-5vlfzw/paterson/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 15 May 2016. Festival review. Jarmusch delivers a deceptively modest character piece that is profound and moving while remaining grounded in the everyday. The critic singles out Driver’s graceful performance and the film’s precise portrait of ordinary life, love, compromise and the oddities of being alive. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/paterson-cannes-review/5104000.article) ## Time Out — Geoff Andrew Rating 4/5. 16 May 2016. Festival review. Jarmusch returns with a lovely, episodic fable about the relationship between creativity and everyday life. The critic singles out the wry script, becalmed direction, glowing photography, and winning performances, especially Driver’s watchful and pensive portrayal. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/paterson) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 27 December 2016. The review notes that the film evocatively captures the inner world of an artist through daily rituals and observations, though it occasionally flirts with twee elements. It singles out the poems and Driver's performance for making the story feel hard and beautiful. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2016/12/movie-review-paterson.html) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 25 November 2016. The review highlights how the mellow drama offers a new perspective on time through an unassuming bus driver's life, with fantastic acting from Driver. It notes some poems are dull and the whimsy can be cloying but overall finds the balance between boredom and bliss compelling. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/paterson-film-review-here-s-the-way-to-balance-boredom-and-bliss-a3404936.html) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 15 May 2016. Festival review. The critic describes the film as a mild-mannered, undramatic ode to ordinary domestic life and the value of poetry. It offers discreet pleasures to fans of Jarmusch but features more reaction shots of a dog than expected. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/paterson-cannes-review-894268/) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang 27 December 2016. The serene and beguiling film unfolds as a series of deadpan verbal jokes and reveals itself as its own poem. It singles out Adam Driver’s soulful performance as the bus driver refining his craft from everyday impressions. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-paterson-review-20161220-story.html) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Rating NYT Critic’s Pick. 27 December 2016. The film is a wonderful, deceptively simple dispatch from Jarmusch-land about art, creation, and the meditative flow of everyday routine into poetry. It singles out the way poems appear on screen as they are read aloud by the bus-driver protagonist. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/27/movies/paterson-review.html) ## Variety 15 May 2016. Festival review. The self-conscious anachronism is a nostalgic story of an ordinary working man who is secretly a poet. It singles out the film’s divergence from contemporary tempo and its embrace of the sublime banality of day-to-day existence. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2016/film/festivals/cannes-film-review-adam-driver-paterson-1201775386/) ## The Wrap — Ben Croll Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 28 December 2016. Festival review. Jarmusch has made a wonderful, simple film that is a perfect version of itself, an ode to small pleasures and the simple life. The critic singles out the film's cyclical structure and focus on the practical and homespun as its strengths. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/paterson-cannes-review-jim-jarmusch-adam-driver/) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 November 2016. Jarmusch delivers a simple and quiet film about a bus driver and poet whose life unfolds over one week in New Jersey, settling into an appreciative rhythm that highlights small tensions and the secret of love. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/paterson-2016-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) ## /Film — Angie Han Rating 8.0/10. 28 December 2016. Jarmusch captures the rhythms of everyday existence and miniature wonders in this idiosyncratic film, with Adam Driver perfectly cast as the subdued yet intense bus driver and poet who makes the world seem a little brighter. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/546828/paterson-review/) ## Paste — Kenji Fujishima Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 21 December 2016. The critic sees Paterson as Jarmusch’s most focused philosophical statement, presenting a gentle, repetitively structured chronicle of an ordinary man’s week in which art fills the soul and adds color to everyday existence. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/jim-jarmusch/pattern-recognition-jim-jarmusch-paterson-and-the) ## The Skinny — Patrick Gamble Rating ★★★★. 3 November 2016. The critic appreciates how the film transposes the monotony of working-class life into art through its cyclical rhythms. He notes Jarmusch's mastery of conversation and subtle allusions to harsher realities. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/paterson) ## HeyUGuys — Jo-Ann Titmarsh Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 16 May 2016. Festival review. The film is an ode to poetry and the rhythms of everyday life in Paterson, New Jersey, with Adam Driver delivering a modest and delightful performance as the poetry-writing bus driver. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/paterson-review/) ## The Ringer — Adam Nayman Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 26 December 2016. The critic describes Paterson as a minor-key drama and tribute to poetry and the ordinary, praising its minimalist episodic structure and Jarmusch’s affectionate showcase of the protagonist’s routine and creative process. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2016/12/26/movies/jim-jarmusch-paterson-gimme-danger-25289b7185df) ## Den of Geek — Edward Douglas Rating 4 out of 5. 1 October 2016. The critic praises it as one of Jarmusch’s funniest and most accessible films. He highlights Adam Driver's perfect performance as the relatable bus driver/poet and the film's exploration of daily routine and life going on. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/paterson-review/) ## The Playlist — Jessica Kiang Rating B+/A-. 15 May 2016. Festival review. Paterson is a charming miniaturist film that finds beauty and inspiration in the mundane routines and small deviations of daily life, centered on a perfectly modulated performance by Adam Driver and an aspirational couple. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/cannes-review-jim-jarmuschs-paterson-starring-adam-driver-pure-poetry-20160515/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/paterson.md