The Paperboy (15)

Film

Film noir

Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy

Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>1/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5
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Time Out says

Tue Mar 12

Lee Daniels follows the heart-on-sleeve emotional wallop of his 2009 indie hit ‘Precious’ with an all-at-sea adaptation of a Pete Dexter novel. It’s a story of murder, sex and race in late 1960s Florida that displays little consistency of style, tone or purpose – leaving its big-name cast, including Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman, totally adrift. The odd, fun moment of bite-your-tongue high camp emerges from the chaos, but mostly this just feels squalid and desperately awkward.

Ward (Matthew McConaughey) is a reporter from The Miami Times who returns to his hometown to investigate the murder of a sheriff. There’s already a sweaty fruitcake (John Cusack) in prison for the crime, but his racy pen pal-cum-new girlfriend, Charlotte (Kidman), is convinced they have the wrong guy. Working with Ward is his paperboy brother Jack (Efron) and an uptight British reporter, Yardley (David Oyelowo).

There are hints of blaxploitation movies in the shooting style but mostly ‘The Paperboy’ looks ugly and uncontrolled, with Daniels forever reaching into a stylistic lucky dip. The tone and focus are just as wild. One minute ‘The Paperboy’ grabs for crude comedy or racy vulgarity, the next it nods to swampy noir or issues of racial politics, sexual repression and generational divisions. The whole affair feels way off the mark.

Author: Dave Calhoun

10

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Release details

Rated:

15

UK release:

Fri Mar 15

Duration:

107 mins

Cast and crew

Director:

Lee Daniels

Cast:

Zac Efron, John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman

Cinemas showing The Paperboy

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Cramphorn Theatre

Fairfield Road, Chelmsford, CM1 1JG Show map/details

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  • Address:

    Cramphorn Theatre Fairfield Road
    Chelmsford
    CM1 1JG

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  • Fri Jul 26:

    • 20:00
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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 3/5 (7 ratings)

  • Great romp.. not Romanian enough for the reviewer..Kidman has gone up in my estimation.. bring on Gracie baby

    johnosullivan Mon Mar 18
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • Strange how this film has polarised the critics. It is an average film, with some good moments and performances from the leads.

    Sutton Sun Mar 17
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • Quirky, sweaty drama, probably the most interesting trip to the movies i`ve enjoyed thus far in a fairly mundane year. Three and a half stars.

    critique Sat Mar 16
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • Sweaty, quirky drama, probably the most interesting trip to the movies I`ve enjoyed in a fairly mundane year so far. Three and a half stars.

    critique Sat Mar 16
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • This is not a good film by any stretch of the imagination.Yes its a mess but not as big a mess as Cloud Atlas, and no-one left before the end of the screening I was in. Zac Efron fans definitely should see it as his acting is perfectly adequate and he parades around handsomely in his pants alot.

    Popcorn Pig Sat Mar 16
    Rated as: 2/5
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  • Rubbish. It is an awesome film. Go see.

    DS Sat Mar 16
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • Terrible film what a load of rubbish big cast pony film

    Tiny Mon Feb 25
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  • Awful...

    adey70 Thu Feb 21
    Rated as: 1/5
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  • Sometimes a person needs to read the book first to understand the movie. The Godfather was a so so movie until reading the book then it's an awesome experience. Same with Life of Pi, Cloud Atlas, The DaVinci Code, Atlas Shrugged and so many others. If you don't understand the movie, try reading the book. I read the book a couple of years ago and loved the movie but then I knew what was happening in between scenes in the movie.

    Joan Sun Feb 3
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  • what an awful film!!! never want to see it again...

    George Wed Jan 30
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