Mini Review
Although I am signed up to See Film First I rarely get notified of their advanced screenings. As it so happens one of my friends got tickets to this screening but was unable to attend, and as such gave the tickets to me. I appealed on Facebook for anyone who wanted to join me for the early morning showing of the film, which just so happened to be on Mothering Sunday; and I was pleasantly surprised to have the ticket snapped up by a friend who used to be my housemate many moons ago. Surprising, as despite sharing a flat for over a year, this was our first cinematic outing together.
The film is set in the hot Florida summer of 1969 and tells the tale of Charlotte Bless (Nicole Kidman), a woman who has a thing for corresponding with men in prison. Her latest man on the inside is Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack), who has been imprisoned on death row for murdering the local Sheriff. Charlotte believes him innocent and contacts local newspaper family the Jansen's, asking Ward (Matthew McConaughey) and his writing partner Yardley (David Oyelowo) to write a story about Hillary. Charlotte wants them to investigate claims that Hillary has been wrongly imprisoned simply because he's a redneck. In the process of freeing her jailbird, Charlotte gets close to Ward's younger brother Jack (Zac Efron), who in turn becomes more than a little infatuated with Charlotte.
The Paperboy was certainly different I will give you that. I'm not entirely sure it was a suitable Mothering Sunday film or that it should be seen at 11am on any day of the week, but it was very atmospheric of the place and time it was set; the story was unique and the acting superb. Unlike Kidman's other film that I saw this month, Stoker, I didn't feel like this was style over substance, but I still didn't feel that it had an awful lot to say for itself. The overwhelming feeling that I took from The Paperboy is that it's a film about loneliness and how different people deal with it in different ways. Charlotte is drawn to people in prison, but ultimately, although she wants someone, she doesn't believe they'll get out. *spoiler alert* Her shock is clear when Hillary shows up at her door after being released. Ward's homosexuality in an age when this was more than frowned upon but could get you killed, makes him long for companionship to the point where he takes things to extreme levels. Jack's loneliness embodies itself in a crush on an unobtainable woman. And almost gets him killed. *End spoiler*
I don't feel like my life has been changed by seeing The Paperboy but I'm still glad that I did see it and I would still recommend it. But it's not for everybody. I was glad that I went to see it with someone who is very open minded as this would not have been the type of film for some of my friends. It does feature a lot of graphic scenes of sex and violence. But if you think you can stomach that and it sounds like an interesting premise then I'd give it a watch. Just don't believe all the awards hype about it. 7 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 10th March 2013
UK Release Date - 15th March 2013
Cast Overview:
Zac Efron ~ Jack Jansen
Matthew McConaughey ~ Ward Jansen
David Oyelowo ~ Yardley Acheman
Scott Glenn ~ W. W. Jansen
Nikolette Noel ~ Nancy
John Cusack ~ Hillary Van Wetter
Nicole Kidman ~ Charlotte Bless
Macy Gray ~ Anita Chester
Director ~ Lee Daniels
Writer ~ Lee Daniels (Screenplay) and Peter Dexter (Novel and Screenplay)
