Character Analysis: Paxton

Character Analysis: Paxton

By: Brian Cotnoir

I’m probably one of the biggest fans of director Eli Roth.  I’ve seen every movie he’s released so far, and I just think he’s the greatest. I wanted to do a Character Analysis on one of his film characters, but I couldn’t make up my mind who I wanted to write one about.  I could’ve gone with Grimm, the character he played in his directorial debut, “Cabin Fever” and I also debated doing one about Keanu Reeves character from his film “Knock Knock”.  In the end I decided to go with the main character from the first Eli Roth film I ever saw, Paxton from “Hostel” and “Hostel 2”.

CHARACTER: Paxton from “Hostel” (2005) and “Hostel Part 2” (2007)

Paxton from "Hostel"

Paxton is a young American traveling with his friend Josh across Europe with their Icelandic friend, Oli.  At one point, Paxton mentions that he’s “studying for the Bar” which implies that he’s a recent law school graduate.  Paxton and his friends have arrived in Europe for sex, drugs, and partying.  Paxton is trying to help his buddy Josh soil his wild oats and some of the many fine women of Amsterdam.  Paxton, and his friends end up taking shelter at the apartment of a young Dutch boy named Alex.  They tell Alex, that they’ve been looking all over Europe for fine women, and tells them about an amazing hostel in Bratislava, Slovakia where the girls are hot and they go crazy for American guys and will do anything and everything sexual with them.  Paxton and his friends decide to skip their trip to Barcelona, and head to Bratislava instead.  When they finally arrive at the hostel it’s even better than they ever dreamed.  However, after both is friends mysteriously vanish without a trace, and Paxton experiences a sense of déjà vu at the hostel, he becomes increasingly frustrated and concerned about where his friends have gone.  Paxton tracks down two of the girls he met at the hostel and orders that he take them to where his friends are.  He is led to an abandoned factory in in the countryside where he learns that his friends were sold to the highest bidder by a group called “The Elite Hunting Club” to be tortured and killed, and that he is next to be killed on the list.

THE ACTOR:

Paxton is played by actor Jay Hernandez.  Who has a small name with a lot of experience in a lot of big name movies.  Before “Hostel”, Hernandez appeared in Disney film “The Rookie” and “Friday Night Lights”.  Since then, Hernandez has gone on to star in films such as “World Trade Center”, “Quarantine”, and most recently starred as El Diablo in “Suicide Squad”.  Hernandez did a great job in the role as Paxton.

CHARACTER IS SIMILAR OR INSPIRED BY:

Paxton is exactly what you think of when you think of a stereotypical young American in Europe.  He’s spoiled, vulgar, arrogant, feels he is entitled, and that he’s more important than everyone else.  I also think that Paxton shares some similarities with Pinocchio.  Both are young boys with wanderlust who are lead astray by people they thought they could trust (In Paxton’s case Alex and Natalya, in Pinocchio’s case Honest John and Gideon) and sold off to the highest bidder (I.E. The Coachmen and the Elite Hunting Club) to have unspeakable things done to them.

I dont know who had it worst

FATE OF CHARACTER: 

Did Paxton get a new haircut?

Paxton tries pleading for mercy with the German client who paid for him (in German), but he German man does not listen to his pleas.  After a substantial amount of serendipity, Paxton manages to escape his captors, and even gets revenge on Alex and the two girls for being responsible for their pain and suffering.  Paxton manages to get on the train and escape to safety, where he eventually ends up killing the Dutch Businessman who killed his friend Josh.  The next time we see Paxton it is at the beginning of “Hostel: Part II”.  Paxton is dealing with PTSD following his ordeal, and has not told anyone, except his girlfriend, the truth about what happened overseas.  The next day Paxton’s girlfriend awakes to find his decapitated body in their kitchen, and the box with Paxton’s head in it is delivered to the head of the Elite Hunting Club.