Review of The Paperboy (2012) by Anna I — 26 Jan 2013

This movie was a big depressing mess. I expected a controversial film focusing on race, innocence and sexuality. I found none of that. There were too many story lines that didn't flow together. First, unrealistic.

Example...nobody could spend the night in an alligator filled swamp underwater on/off and be totally fine. Second, the whole portrayal of the Southern justice system for the time period didn't seem accurate.

The music, cinematography, etc. was nothing special. Regarding the acting...This wasn't MM's best performance. He was not convincing and I never really figured him out. I don't generally like Nicole Kidman very much, but she was fun to watch since her character was so "out there".

Zac Efron successfully proved he is not a teenager as he spent most of the film in tidy whities (but looking hott)...he def proved he can hold his own in a very adult film. John Cusack made the movie with his craziness and psychotic acting.

He was great. An unexpected joy was Macy Gray as a supporting character and the film's narrator. Regarding all the controversy...yes, there were a couple graphic violent and sexual scenes, but I didn't find the over shocking.

The notorious scene that critics were shocked over involved a character peeing on another. However, from reading info prior to watching this the scene was totally taken out of context and blown into something it wasn't.

The most disturbing scene (by far) involved gutting an alligator...that was horribly gross and the only scene that I couldn't watch.