The Paperboy Review

Saucy swamp tale elicits great performances.

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL: In grasping for an appropriate genre in which to lump Lee Daniels’ The Paperboy, I could happily settle on 'melo-noir-ma’, if such a thing existed and also, didn’t make me cringe.

But then, lots of scenes in The Paperboy will have the latter effect on some audiences, for the gutsy extremes to which Daniels provokes his ensemble cast. It's absolutely not going to be for everyone, but Daniels’ pulpy tale of Florida swamp-dwellers and dark, dirty love, is really very good.

Matthew McConaughey is Ward James, the eldest son of the local newspaper man (Scott Glenn), returned from Miami to investigate the looming execution of potentially innocent man, Hillary Van Wetter (played by a vile John Cusack). Ward has a hunch that Van Wetter was framed, and comes back to check facts with the locals, along with fellow writer Yardley Acheman (David Oyelowo). The latter’s clipped British lilt and designer clothes buffer the unchecked racism directed at a black man deemed to be rising above his station. With Ward’s wide-eyed younger brother Jack (Zac Efron) in tow, they pore over case files, and consult Hillary’s saucy pen-pal-turned-fiancé, Charlotte (Nicole Kidman).

As the damaged Charlotte, Kidman gives a wet-lipped update to the To Die For character that surprised Hollywood all those years ago. Kidman re-establishes her reputation for riskiness as a 'tarted up' 40-something babydoll with a general soft spot for boys in trouble, and a (very) specific yearning for men in prison. Kidman works her scenes with every ounce of her being, and not just in the two headline-grabbing moments in which she riffs on that interrogation from Basic Instinct, and when she rains a golden shower on Zac Efron. Her scenes with Efron are playful and forthright, and sit in sharp relief to the power dynamic at play in her scenes with Cusack.

Man of the moment Matthew 'McConaissance' McConaughey gets his fair share of shocks too, as part of his stated readiness to incorporate his pecs and southern charms into edgier indie roles, away from interchangeable rom-coms. (His other film at Cannes, Mud, is another swampy tale that exposes a softer side.) Efron too, toys with his pretty-boy persona, as a teen overwhelmed by cataclysmic puppy lust.

Macy Gray follows the Lee Daniels pathway from music-to-film that which served Mariah Carey so well in Precious; Gray is the film’s anchoring force, the observant housekeeper/scratchy-voiced-narrator, Anita.

Dream sequences and a grindhouse-style keep the story from veering into social commentary and anchor it in genre-mode, but Daniels deals with the knock-on-effects of a late-'60s homicide, with precision, humour and finesse.

It's worth repeating that It certainly won’t be to everyone’s tastes (and indeed, it’s received a mixed response here in Cannes), but The Paperboy is worth seeking out.