Review of The Paperboy (2012) by Luke G — 28 Jul 2013

So much potential. From the amazing Academy Award Nominee Lee Daniels who directed one of the best films I have seen in a long time (Precious), this emerged. To be frank, this movie was a hot mess of a directing cycle.

Be this as it may, the major fault falls on Peter Dexter's confusing, trashy, and ultimately failing screenplay. Truthfully, this was my biggest problem with the film. Everything else would have been spot on, including Daniels's directing had the screenplay actually focused on the plot and didn't go off into a million different direction.

Nevertheless, the cast is sensational. Zac Efron keeps up with the big guns in this movie really well, though his accent went from evident to the closest thing to non-existent as the movie progresses.

Matthew McConaughey shows why he is an amazing actor when it comes to these dramatic badass roles that he plays so well. John Cusack plays one of the best bad guys I have seen in a long time! I was so pleasantly surprised having only known of Cusack's work in High Fidelity.

The whole cast was great, but Academy Award Winner Nicole Kidman steals the show. Kidman's raw, skanky, sexy performance as Charlotte is Kidman in her element. These dramatic, out-there roles that are the complete opposite of her personality she captures with ease! There is no doubt in my mind that this has Academy Award nomination written all over it.

Though the cast shines in a failing project, The Paperboy is nothing short of a failure that squanders all of the things it had going for it.