THE PAPER
A film review by Mark Takacs
Copyright 1994 Mark Takacs
Universal Pictures / rated R
Starring: Michael Keaton Randy Quaid Robert Duvall
Glenn Close Marisa Tomei Spalding Gray
Classification: Drama Comedy
Tak Rating: see it several times - full and/or matinee
One-Line-Summary
----------------
A tabloid news reporter has a hell of a day.
Tak Plot Summary ---------------- Henry Hackett (Michael Keaton), editor of a big-city newspaper tabloid, is hot on a big story that could expose a major scandal and free two innocent young men charged with murder--if he can meet his deadline for the morning edition. With his wife (Marisa Tomei) about to give birth, his managing editor (Glenn Close) locking horns with him and a rival newspaper trying to lure him over, Hackett is facing more than one crisis in this everyday adventure: this day is going to change his life forever.
Tak Thoughts ------------ If you think *you* lead a stressful life, maybe seeing THE PAPER will change your mind. The running time of THE PAPER depicts more stress than I've been subjected to in months, and it's all supposed to happen over a period of twenty-four hours. Yeesh.
In this time span, we follow a heap of different plot lines, all intertwined with Hackett's pursuit of a big expose that could free two innocents. He's also interviewing for another job and reassuring his distraught wife. The harried editor is worried about his medical condition and trying to reunite with his estranged daughter. A host of reporters are out on the street doing research, most with their own problems, including hiding from an angry city official. To top it all off, Glenn Close's character actively tries to stymie Hackett's story, while simultaneously schmoozing to re-negotiate her own contract.
There's *so* much going on in this movie, you can't help but be overwhelmed. Especially in the newsroom. In one scene, Hackett is juggling three people on hold and conducting an argument in his office. It's common to have many conversations going on at once (I counted five in one scene), and there's always something happening in the background if you have time to look. (Watch for five clocks)
The characters in THE PAPER were great. Glenn Close's has unintentionally turned into everything she previously hated ("You're a manager now, if everyone liked you, you'd be doing something wrong."). Robert Duvall is the gruff editor in chief ("The trouble with being my age is that everyone looks up to you as a father figure, but you know that you're still the same old asshole."). Marisa Tomei is Hatckett's wife, an apprehensive career reporter who's envious that her husband can still pursue his career ("Hypothetical situation: If a gunman said he was going to shoot me or blow up the [office], which would you choose?"). Then add more newsroom characters--the kid photographer, the whiny complainer, the conspiracy nut, and varied screwballs.
And did I mention that it's funny too? There are one-liners, hilarious arguments, amusing situations and funny events throughout.
The trick to enjoying this highly charged, funny and complex movie is staying detached and *watching* all the excitement. If I'm not careful, I get too involved in a movie--if it's even halfway decent, I feel right along with a character. Which is great if I'm watching feel-good stuff. Depending on your personality, watching THE PAPER might get you a) stressed out, b) pumped, c) excited and/or d) amused. Unfortunately for my date, I mostly got stressed out.
Tak Rating: ----------- I liked THE PAPER--it's exciting, funny, stressful and dramatic. I'll gladly accompany my friends to see it again. There's bound to be more to catch the second time. And I'll certainly never see my daily newspaper in quite the same way after THE PAPER.
avoid at all costs see several times (w/friends) as matinee wait for videotape see once at full price watch it on cable X see it several times - full and/or matinee see once as a matinee see many times at full price -- Mark Takacs mtakacs@netcom.com Seattle, WA WWW HomePage
.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews