Southern Gothic to its core, this tacky, tawdry melodrama follows crusading Miami Times reporter Ward Jansen (Matthew McConaughey), who returns with an assistant (David Oyelowo) to his swampy hometown of Lately, FL, joining his younger brother Jack (Zac Efron) while trying to uncover the truth about a death-row killer—alligator hunter Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack), who might have been wrongly convicted of killing a seedy sheriff. During the course of the investigation, Jack is seduced by the racist convict's salacious pen-pal fiancée, an aging floozy named Charlotte Bless (Nicole Kidman—in a peroxide blond wig). Based on Pete Dexter's pulpy novel, director Lee Daniels introduces the lurid plot with an interview of the family's maid (singer Macy Gray), who not only delivers a retrospective of what happened but also contributes a husky voiceover commentary throughout the indulgently episodic narrative. While the scene in which Kidman's character urinates on Efron's briefly ignited some sensationalist tabloid fever, it's actually an appropriate treatment for jellyfish stings and not as shocking as one might think, given the circumstances. That cannot be said for Cusack's character's autoeroticism, S&M gang rape, and animal mutilation. Ultimately, this is scummy, sexploitation sleaze. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include cast and crew interviews featuring costars John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, and others (18 min.), behind-the-scenes footage (7 min.), a “making-of” featurette (6 min.), an interview with director Lee Daniels (4 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a cinematic misfire.] (S. Granger)
The Paperboy
Millennium, 107 min., R, DVD: $28.99, Blu-ray: $29.99, Jan. 22 Volume 28, Issue 1
The Paperboy
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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