The Paperboy
The Paperboy
R | 05 October 2012 (USA)
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As investigative reporter Ward Jansen and his partner Yardley Acheman chase a sensational, career-making story with the help of Ward's younger brother Jack and sultry death-row groupie Charlotte Bless, the pair tries to prove violent swamp-dweller Hillary Van Wetter was framed for the murder of a corrupt local sheriff.

Reviews
Dotbankey

A lot of fun.

Lollivan

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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Abbigail Bush

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

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Philippa

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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jibtechnine

Once I adjusted to Macy Gray's accent/dialect (whatever the PC term is for anything these days), I couldn't stop watching or listening. Yes, the people in the movie have thick deep-south accents; please get the New England Patriots fans some smelling salts for their shock. I've been a Nicole Kidman fan my entire life, and this movie had me lusting after any other possible indie appearance she's ever made. Yes, she plays a dirty bad girl, & John Cusack plays a dirty bad boy; please get all the Grey's Anatomy fans & Kardashian fans a box of tissues for their grief. The twists with the characters Ward & Yardley toward the end are priceless. If you can't hack it, it's OK, just go see another Kong/Godzilla/Marvel movie & call it brilliant & go to Starbucks after.

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jktota

Plot was weak and the movie was difficult to follow. I think the director relied on Sexual MISconduct to sell this to his audience. Insult to my intelligence and I am shocked with the big named actors/actress that starred in this movie. Was disappointing and a waste of my valuable time to watch...

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Floated2

The Paperboy is a crime history drama film set in the early '60s. Starring Zac Efron as Jack, a young South Florida man whose father is the editor of the local paper. Jack lazes away most days, forever sparring in a loving, maternal way with the family's maid Anita, played well by pop star Macy Gray. His big brother Ward (Matthew McConaughey), an investigative journalist, returns to their small town with his African-American friend (David Oyelowo) to look into the case of Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack), who was convicted of killing a vicious local sheriff.Director Lee Daniels shoots the film in a style that is quite gritty, and more so independently, but in truth could best be described as grubby or even scuzzy. That's intentional since he wants to make you feel the heat and the smeared emotions of the characters. The film is more centered not for everyone, and not for mainly the mainstream. The film does have quite a flawed storyline pace and is quite boring after a while. Overall, The Paperboy is quite over the top with over the top performances and the ending is not quite fitting.

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Leofwine_draca

Like MUD, THE PAPERBOY is another overrated Matthew McConaughey film filled to the brim with detestable characters working their way through a godawful storyline. This one's an increasingly lurid fable about a group of scuzzy characters, racial hatred, a psychotic criminal, and the reporters who are hot on the trail of a murderer. It has potential, yes, but as with so many overrated Hollywood films today, that potential is wasted.THE PAPERBOY has no look and feel of its own. It just exists in a kind of familiar simplicity, with all of the material feeling passé and rather weak. As seems to be the normal these days (cf. KILLER JOE), the filmmakers thrown in some sleazy stuff involving urination and a set-piece scene which copies and tries to outdo the infamous Sharon Stone leg-crossing scene in BASIC INSTINCT although it comes across as desperate and classless by comparison.As for the cast, well, you're not in for much here. An increasingly disgusting Nicole Kidman is completely unconvincing as always, and McConaughey is so wooden that he doesn't even seem to be present in his own film. Zac Efron is out of his depth and you just want to punch his smug face in, and only John Cusack has any effectiveness, playing against type. Overall this is a real mess and a waste for time for the viewer.

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