My dad is a college computer science professor, and this year he thought
it might be fun to incorporate some computer-related movies into one of
his classes. While he ended up deciding against showing it to his
students, one of the first movies he thought of was Paper Man, a
1971 TV movie that also had a brief run in theaters. In this odd
techno-thriller, a group of college students entreats eccentric computer
whiz Avery (Dean Stockwell) to help them create a record of a fake
person so that they can use his identity to make credit card purchases.
It’s all a grand game at first, but when one of their number dies as a
result of a computer error, they begin to wonder if their toying with
the system has unleashed something sinister.
Before we started
watching the movie, my dad explained what it was about. If he hadn’t,
I’m not sure I would have picked up that quickly on exactly what these
students were doing and why, though that may be in part because of the
poor quality of our copy of the video. The picture was fuzzy and the
sound was muffled, but I suspect that the movie is normally of a higher
quality than that. Still, it takes a while for the plot to really get
interesting.
Stockwell, who I know best as savvy hologram Al from Quantum Leap,
plays the central character and gives the only really memorable
performance in the film. Unsettlingly quiet and intense under a ball of
frizzy hair that would make Art Garfunkel proud, Avery spends his days
dabbling in computer code and interacting little with those around him.
After Joel (Elliott Street), a goofy, glasses-wearing geek trying to
turn the computer into a chess champion, lets word of their charade slip
to Art (James Olson), an older man who works in the lab with them,
Avery tries to bow out, but that isn’t so easy.
Not only do
mysterious – and deadly – events begin occurring in apparent connection
with the fictitious Henry Norman, one of the students in on the plot is
the alluring Karen (Stefanie Powers), upon whom Avery seems to have a
crush. Even though she’s officially dating macho jerk Jerry (James
Stacy), she finds Avery intriguing, but his lack of emotion and shadowy
history unsettle her. As computer-related mishaps strike other members
of their close-knit group, she begins to wonder whether the man she
thought was sweet and misunderstood could actually be behind all the
trouble.
For the first half an hour or so, this movie is frankly
pretty dull. Street provides a couple of laughs with his over-the-top
antics, but I could never decide whether he was likable underneath his
obnoxious demeanor. Still, he is certainly the most animated of the
bunch, while fellow computer nerd Lisa (Tina Chen) is lifeless until the
scene when she realizes just how dangerous a game she has entered into.
Stockwell’s face remains impassive throughout the film, but it’s
apparent that there’s a lot of thought locked behind those averted eyes,
and by the time the action really starts, he becomes the clear focal
point even though little of the unfolding drama seems to directly
involve him.
I’m not sure how to classify the movie, though I’m
inclined to go with techno-thriller. It’s one of those movies that make
you think twice about the degree to which computers have become
integrated into our lives. There’s also an element of mystery about it
as the students left standing after increasingly ghoulish tragedies
befall their friends try to figure out if these deaths were orchestrated
and by whom. By the time the gore of the second death sent me diving
into my pillow, I was pretty invested in the plot. The climax is both
satisfying and vaguely unnerving, which fits the tone of this film that
starts slow but raises interesting questions about the ties between man
and machine.
No comments:
Post a Comment