Review of The Paperboy (2012) by Jc E — 29 Jan 2013

Was I the only one who didn't fawn over director Lee Daniels' last film, 'Precious'? I just didn't like it, and didn't think that it deserved the acclaim it received. Honestly, I think the same of this picture, but this one is even worse.

(Though, this didn't receive the acclaim that the aforementioned picture reaped.) Quite frankly, I think the actors didn't even look that closely at the script, and just saw Oscar potential when they read a synopsis of their characters.

Zac Efron (The Lorax) plays a boy with mommy issues who spends half the film in his briefs. Matthew McConaughey (Killer Joe) plays an uptight journalist who's got a freaky side. Nichole Kidman (Rabbit Hole) basically plays an oversexed, white-trash hooker, who's in love with an inmate but still dolls out sexual favors to other men to get her way.

John Cusack (The Raven) plays said inmate, who's really just a white-trash swamp man with a depraved side who winds up in the clink. I'm pretty sure the four primaries read this and thought this would be Oscar-worthy.

If only they'd had the foresight to see what a mess this would become. Honestly, the only earnest, if half-hearted, performance came from Macy Gray (Domino). It tries to be journalist porn, by inferring that journalists can prove an imprisoned man's innocence, but it never amounts to anything of substance.

The late '60s setting is supposed to help set the mood for a racial undertone, but it really just devolves into a twisted soap opera that's long on time, short on content. However, it's destined to be talked about for its [Whiskey Tango Foxtrot] moments, including Kidman's character urinating on Efron's after being stung by jellyfish and her miming oral pleasuring to Cusack's very enthusiastic character.

Yes, it's that messed up. And it's not one of those messed up movies that has a payoff in the end.