movies
2016
PATERSON
FEATURING: ADAM DRIVER
CONNECTION: THE STREETS OF PATERSON,
GREAT FALLS NATIONAL PARK
DONNIE
BRASCO 1997 FEATURING:
IMAGINARY
HEROES 2004
FEATURING: AL PACINO,
SIGOURNEY WEAVER, JEFF DANIELS,
46
JOHNNY DEPP, MICHAEL MADSEN
CONNECTION: PATERSON, PASSAIC,
WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY EMILE HIRSCH
CONNECTION: PARTLY FILMED IN WAYNE
TOWNSHIP AND WOODLAND PARK
Donnie Brasco was the alias for “jewel
thief” and real-life FBI undercover agent
Joseph Pistone, who wrote a book about
his exploits getting a little too close
to the Bonanno crime family he was
charged with investigating. Pistone grew
up in Paterson and attended Paterson
State College — now WPU. According to
David Schoner of the NJ Motion Picture
and Television Commission, the film was
shot partly in the city of Passaic. You may have missed this one, which played in only a
couple dozen theaters domestically. The plot revolves
around the surviving son in a suburban family after the
older, high-achieving son unexpectedly commits suicide.
Filming for the movie took place all over North Jersey,
including sites in Chatham, Dumont, Newark, South
Orange and Montclair.
MAY 2018 WAYNE MAGAZINE
1996
RANSOM
FEATURING: MEL GIBSON,
RENE RUSSO, GARY SINISE
CONNECTION: FILMED PARTLY AT
WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY
AND IN BLOOMINGDALE,
RIVERDALE AND HALEDON
This crime thriller has an impres-
sive pedigree: It was co-authored by
Richard Price and directed by Ron
Howard. The plot revolves around
a wealthy couple whose son is kid-
napped at a science fair. In a prominent
scene, one of the kidnappers meets
with the father, played by Mel Gibson,
at a quarry; quarry shooting locations
are listed in IMDb as being in Riverdale
and Haledon.
VINCE
In this contemplative story, Paterson is both the name
of the setting and the man who drives a bus around
it. Played by Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Last Jedi,
Girls), he listens to his passengers and passersby, and
writes poetry. After a setback in which his writings are
destroyed, he makes a mysterious connection to a
Japanese man while sitting at his favorite spot in town.