“I just put on Rock of Ages on BluRay. Not sure how this write up is gonna happen at the same time. You may call it poor planning, but I make no apologies or excuses for rocking.
Alas, one part of my day today that didn’t quite rock was The Paperboy. It’d been a while since I pulled a double that spanned two theaters, but I ran from Paranormal Activity 4 at the Common to The Paperboy at the Kendall. Geez, this movie was a hot mess.
The Paperboy is already becoming infamous as the film where Nicole Kidman pees on Zac Efron. If only that were the only problem with the movie. In short, it was boring and weird. And not the good kinda weird. Oh no. Just awkward, uncomfortable, strange. Matthew McConaughey is a reporter who comes home to investigate a murder. Nicole Kidman is hoping he’ll help her free the convicted inmate, John Cusack, who she intends to marry. Zac Efron is the reporter’s little brother and driver and he becomes crazy obsesed with Kidman’s aging and mentally unstable sex kitten. Most of the focus is on Efron’s character. He’s just aimlessly wandering thru his life. However, that means that Efron plays him kinda lifeless. When you’re carrying a film, lifeless is not good. There’s not enough of his charm coming thru to make him interesting.
Kidman just made me uncomfortable. She was too in your face sexual, but it wasn’t hot. It was kinda sad. Not that she wasn’t gorgeous in the role, her character just had too many issues. I had no idea why she subjected herself to all that she did, and I felt kinda embarassed for her (both the actress and the character).
I never thought in a million years I would make a statement like the following, but the one who I loved watching was Macy Gray as the housekeeper Anita. Yes, that Macy Gray. When you have a cast that includes all of the aforementioned actors and your strongest one is Macy Gray, you have a problem. Her rapport with Efron was really fun, and for the most part, she was just the most lively and interesting character. She was the only one who I actually cared about, and she was only a supporting character. Thankfully, she also served as narrator, so that was a bit of a bright spot as well.
John Cusack was also kinda impressive, as the unhinged convict. But his character was so incredibly unlikeable (on purpose) and he was really sketching me out. I could not see what drew Kidman’s character to him, and that just made things all the more frustrating.
Anyways the whole thing sorta just dragged on and on. If there’d been more attention paid to the murder story, I’d have been more interested. But alas that storyline was mostly just glossed over. There were some hints at a cool backstory for McConaughey’s character, but that too wasn’t fully developed. Even as the end built up some (mostly predictable) suspense, I just couldn’t wait for the \m/ thing to be over.
And to think, today because my double spanned two theaters, I actually did pay for both movies. That’ll teach me to be honest.
The Paperboy – \m/ \n