The Paper

The Paper_720p(480P)

source: The Paper

THE PAPER was very exciting at sometimes, and funny, yet the movie was very slow. I personally feel as though it wasn't Ron Howard's best work. The movie is funny, fast, entertaining, and depressing...I thought. 5/10

Great director, great cast, totally unique. Not even on BluRay... WTF??? This is movie is almost 2 hours long, yet such is the pace it only feels like you've been watching it for an hour. It's like a shot of adrenaline. A great drama, brilliantly evocative of the early nineties, and loaded with humour. You won't regret watching it!

THE PAPER was a glossy but substance-challenged comedy drama that is supposed to provide an incisive look into the daily running of a large metropolitan newspaper. Michael Keaton stars as Henry Hackett, a maverick reporter trying to get the facts accurate on the biggest story of the decade while simultaneously chasing down a better job at another paper. The impressive supporting cast includes Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei, Randy Quaid, Jason Alexander, Catherine O'Hara, Spalding Gray, Lynne Thigpen, and a classy cameo by Jason Robards as the paper's publisher. No, there's not a lot going on here, but the all-star cast makes it worth a peek.

Movie about a New York city tabloid misses the true story entirely. A story newspaper about two young Black men framed for the murder of some rich white guys. The hero is a news editor who doesn't want to run the bogus story because it will cause race riots. He makes great personal sacrifices for this, and in the end the story they get is just as much of a scoop anyway, so everyone is happy. The reality is the mainstream media who really want to be honest aren't made into heroes: they're broke.

I loved this movie...a real 90s sleeper. It's hard to determine why some films don't get the attention they deserve. The Paper is delightfully acted by an A-list ensemble in their prime. It's hilariously funny, with great timing and pace, and some poignant overtones on commitment, loyalty, family, friendship, work and the workplace, and big city journalism. Feel-good and sardonic at the same time, I did NOT find it completely predictable. The screenplay is terrific, with thoughtful, intelligent, brisk dialog. Not a dull moment; completely entertaining. A film for "grown-ups". More kudos to Ron Howard. Renting it just to watch the superb Glen Close's character, especially in the "stop the presses" scene, is worth the time/money alone. A charming Marisa Tomei perfectly cast. Robert Duvall, Jason Alexander, Jason Robards, and of course Michael Keaton...what's not to like? One of those films that can be watched many times by men and women alike. Highly recommended.

I've been to a newsroom only twice in my life. First, it's to collect some lucky draw winnings, and I had a sneak peek into the hustle and bustle of a newsroom from behind a glass panel. The next one was more up close and personal, because a journalist friend brought me right up to his desk (and an incredibly piled up one at that), and I had first hand view of how news got made. Or at least it seemed that the next day's articles were done up because there were few people left in the office, and there was a group huddled at one corner. Ron Howard's The Paper was one of those films that I didn't catch at the cinemas (at that time, the teenage me only recognized Michael Keaton of his 1989 Batman and 1992 Batman Returns fame), and missed a number of scheduled telecast and re-runs on television. So it's no surprise that I snapped up the DVD the minute I saw it in the discount bins at the store. And I wonder just why the heck it took me so long to get down to watching this, with no regrets (save for the technical aspect of the presentation). Keaton plays a Henry Hackett, a sub-editor for a small time tabloid in New York. Being a go-getting workaholic, he often puts his family life aside, which of course puts his very pregnant wife Martha (Marisa Tomei) under a lot of stress especially with her pregnancies woes, and not being able to get out there and do stuff. For their financial stability, one of the many subplots here involves her getting Henry a job interview at a larger paper, The Sentinel, and threatens him not to sabotage his own opportunities for advancement, which we learnt that he does so quite frequently in order to stay where he is. And it's not rocket science why too, as the bunch of folks he's working with is really madcap, and I think I too can thrive in such as a stressful, chaotic, but totally livewire environment. Each character presents a separate subplot which intertwines with Henry's life, and in one scene which I was totally mesmerized with, was when everyone dropped by Henry's office, and it went just off the hook. Wonderful stuff there, especially when you have Glenn Close as a rival sub-editor who happens to be the office bicycle (erm, that means everyone had had a ride), Robert Duvall as an ailing editor stricken with cancer and trying to reconcile with his estranged daughter, and Randy Quaid in a totally hilarious role as the bummer in the office. All these while the team had to debate with the front page story for the next day, centered on reporting what's accurate and doing what's right – the social responsibility in being a paper, with pressure on them because they had missed the previous day's scoop. Everyone's preoccupied with their own personal agenda, set against an office where the air-conditioner isn't working and driving temperatures and tempers up. It's work and family over a period of 24 hours, and I felt that this film had a story that ranks itself up there with other films that deal with their narratives over the same time period. You'd have come to expect a certain assured standard from director Ron Howard, and this film demonstrates nothing less. Everything naturally comes together perfectly toward the end like the birth of a new dawn, with relationships bruised but not battered, and what I also enjoyed here was John Seale's superb cinematography which had this extremely fluid motion when bringing us in and around a newsroom for that office tour each time we run around like crazy with Henry. The paper would be one of my personal favourites, and my only regret (besides the technical aspects of the DVD) was why it had taken me this long to uncover this gem of an enjoyable film.

talk about your stinkers.. this one sure was.. even with Michael Keaton, Glenn Close , and Robert Duval ..it was Stupid !!! it made NO sense what so ever , i watched the whole thing as was totally lost.. it was so dumb.. why did Michael even make this one.. and how could Glenn and Robert stoop so low to star in such drivel??? i watched it because Michael was in it . and after i watched it , im sorry that i even rented it in the first place.. what a waste of good money... to me these stars made no difference at all.. it was Lousy !!

Sometimes a movie comes along which is so bad, that seeing it just discredits the whole art. Desperate Measures was one of these movies, but that is a different topic for a different time. But The Paper was certainly close. Never has a movie stuck out in my mind of having such a poorly written screenplay and waste of acting that Ron Howard has perpetrated in so many of his movies (My god I rooted for the capsule to blow up in Apollo 13 to give the movie some real drama). This movie was about a paper covering a story proving 2 young black children being blamed for a crime they didn't commit and the paper that covered the story. The movie boringly portrayed the inner-workings of the coverage of the story(in a newspaper environment) along with sub-plots that were just insulting in their stupidity. If you would like to see a movie with fake drama and an awful plot which doesn't draw you to the characters, and would like to waste your time, I would suggest this movie. But then again, I would recommend this after sitting through Pauly Shore and Carrot Top trying to convey the meaning of life for a sea slug. It is a shame that an actor who was the best Batman, didn't stick with the series and went along to make such classics as this, Multiplicity and Jack Frost. No wonder he hasn't done a movie in 3 years. This movie also brought down the careers of Glenn Close and Marisa Tomei in the process. It is fortunate that a director that lacks so much talent is out there so that we can better appreciate the works of Stanley Kubrick, and has paved the way for great young directors like M. Night Shyamalan and Sam Mendes (American Beauty) to show their Talent. To quote the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons, "Worst Movie Ever".