Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The Paperboy is an odd movie. I watched it, noting that Lee Daniels of "Precious" was directing a great cast, and didn't really know what it could be about aside a murder. Well I was right, that's all it is about. Which would be cool if it had any kind of story.Plot- Its basically about this wannabe writer and his brother (Efron/Matthew Mccon.....) trying to determine a prison inmates (Cusack) innocence. Along with the brothers is the inmates girlfriend, and a legitimate journalist (Oyelowo). There are some things that draw you in, mainly out of curiosity rather than obligating you to listen and watch intently. Really, you'll end up thinking you missed something, but the story is just flat, nothing to dazzle you at all and this is coming from someone who gets entertained by watching water boil. (pardon my spelling of names) Acting/Characters- The acting is flawless in this film, Cusack has some odd moments that could have been more intense, but thats it. May be the best part of the film, yet thats not why I watch. It just happens to aid, or break a film.Writing- The dialogue is weird, yet not bad. The weak story really could have used some memorable conversations at the least. Sometimes characters contradict themselves, making it hard to understand who they are or what they might do. I didn't sympathize for them at all aside Efron, and even in the film he's just written as a horny teenager.Quality/Style- The Paperboy is edited in kind of a cool way, alot of psychedelic transitions n what not. Yet sometimes the editing is almost annoying, such as chopping a frame forward in time while maintaining the same continuous audio. Its another aspect of this film that I think tries way too hard to cover for the lame story. The score isn't bad, kind of cool. Overall, I only wrote this because it was a perfect example of a "gray area" movie in a sense that it's not good, or really all that bad. Its got just enough to be a decent film, and I can't say I would recommend it. I know that after the silly, short ending, I vowed to never watch it again. Once again, the absence of an eventful story really, really killed it.

I actually really enjoyed this movie- the all star cast really pulled it off - Yes the story and characters were twisted but lets face it - what in reality (esp nowadays) is not twisted? America should embrace real films like this as the American dream gives way to the exposure of reality. Dont live in Disneyland. Having said that - a profound movie is like a thought provoking essay - with an emphasis on THOUGHTS - it requires a certain level of intellect to appreciate.

From Peter Dexter's novel about the investigation into the stabbing murder of a racist sheriff in a small Florida town in 1969; a suspect has already been convicted and sentenced to die, but a newspaper reporter and his colleague from the Big City aren't so certain he's guilty. Framed in flashback by testimony from the mouthy black maid who works for the reporter's family, the scenario is filled with nothing but one-dimensional people--caricatures substituting for characters--nasty, racially-hostile dialogue and ugly scenes such as bleach-blonde Nicole Kidman bringing her prisoner-crush to orgasm during visitor's hours (she also urinates on paper-delivering drop-out Zac Efron after he's stung by a jellyfish!). Adapted by Dexter and director Lee Daniels, the film may be considered brave (or bravely outré) for its 'colorful' examination of racial hatred, but as a tale of murder it surely falls short. It's also a failure as a starring vehicle for the likes of Kidman, Efron, John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey as the reporter and David Oyelowo as his partner. Oyelowo, as a black British man in America's south at the end of the 1960s, appears to have no clue as to how this impossibly-conceived role should be played, and Daniels gives him absolutely no help. Watching Oyelowo and the rest of the cast struggle on-screen is painful to witness. One of the worst-directed, written and edited pictures of the last 10 years. NO STARS from ****

I'm giving this film a 10 because I can only marvel at so much talent so utterly misspent in this southern Gothic tale of woe. This film more than anything else demonstrates out clearly out of sync Hollywood is with the world and why ultimately Hollywood will implode on its own madness which apparently has gripped even the most talented. The point of this film apparently is to see just how disgusting it can be so that the audience runs screaming from the theater. There is one disgusting scene after another as though they are competing against one another in a disgust marathon. The fact that the highest paid talent in the world would be seduced by this utterly disgusting script is further proof that something is rotten in Denmark in this case Hollywood.