By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Lee Daniels
Starring: David Oyelowo | John Cusack | Macy Gray | Matthew McConaughey | Nicole Kidman | Scott Glenn | Zac Efron
Country: united_states
Year: 2012
Running time: 107
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1496422/combined
Thom says: “I’m a huge fan of Lee Daniels and following SHADOWBOXER & PRECIOUS I was excited about seeing this and it was every bit as thrilling as I expected. It’s clear after all three films that Daniel’s is turning into a great actor’s director. Who could forget Mo’Nique, Helen Mirren, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt in SHADOWBOXER, Mo’Nique & Gabourey Sidibe in PRECIOUS, and now Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, & John Cusack all contributing career-defining performances here. I’m at a loss for the heaps of scorn that’s been thrown at this Southern Gothic tale as I found it titillating, thrilling, and transcendent with its trashy, dirty look at an ugly, racist South. A newspaper reporter (McConaughey), with secrets of his own, returns to his Florida hometown with a black reporter (more untruths surface) to get to the bottom of the veracity of the supposed innocence of a convicted redneck murderer. He reconnects with his family, especially his oversexed younger brother, who ends up driving them around. Into the group comes a trailer trash gal (Kidman at her sexiest) who has
fallen in love with the convicted killer beyond all understanding and pals around with the guys. The younger brother hopelessly falls in love with Kidman’s character, which adds another dimension to the twisted and convoluted plot. Many of the other characters are not at all what they seem as one revelation after another makes for a non-stop melodramatic speed ride. A pal from Connecticut found the film pure trash and two other acquaintances at TIFF were less than ecstatic, but I found a shiny pearl to add considerable luster to the burgeoning career of Daniels. 5 cats
“While I missed the previous day premier of this film I did pass the theatre where it was showing and Zac Efron entering the theatre cause a near-riot. There were so many girls screaming and hollering at him that you could hear it from blocks away. When any of these young ladies actually see the film they might well faint as Efron parades around the movie half undressed.”
Kyle says: “I am a recent member of Chlotrudis, here posting my first comment, and delighted to be a part of this group. I happened to see THE PAPERBOY during the 50th New York Film Festival and feel it was the nadir, as well as one of the worst films of 2012. It highlights the extremely annoying NYFF habit of offering a burnt-to-a-crisp turkey to patrons as a means of raising money, or as a perk of membership, because patrons will otherwise not attend. The practice of charging premium prices so a star such as Nicole Kidman will make an appearance also resulted in NYFF audiences being subjected to Clint Eastwood’s
eminently forgettable CHANGELING and HEREAFTER. To spend two hours chuckling over Nicole Kidman’s hair, costumes, makeup and acting pretensions is to suggest the movie is fun, which it decidedly isn’t. Lee Daniels is a bad director with no sense of pacing or style, prompting me to wonder if reassessment of PRECIOUS is in order. Only John Cusack acquits himself without embarrassment. THE PAPERBOY does offer one memorable line, spoken by the Black household maid to Zac Efron’s Jack Jansen lying in bed complaining that he smells awful: ‘That’s because that blonde lady peed all over your face.’ Which Nicole Kidman’s character Charlotte Bless does to relieve the pain of jellyfish stings.”