Film Review: The Paperboy

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David Oyelowo, director Lee Daniels, entertainment, Film Review, Film Review: The Paperboy, John Cusack, Lee Daniels, Macy Gray, Matthew McConaughey, movies, Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy, Zac Efron

Zac Efron and Nicol Kidman in The Paperboy

Set in hot, humid Florida of the late 60s The Paperboy is a surprisingly atmospheric film. When big time reporter Ward Jensen (Matthew McConaughey) comes home to investigate the case of Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack) it is the beginning of a whole series of events.

Hillary is about to be executed for killing a cop, but Charlotte Bless (Nicole Kidman), a letter-writing, bottle-blonde with the hots for death row inmates, thinks he is innocent and asks Ward to look into the matter.  Ward’s bother and college dropout Jack (Zac Efron) finds a new purpose in life when he falls in love with bombshell Charlotte, even though she is nearly twice his age.

As Ward and his co-writer Yardley (David Oyelowo) become more and more involved in unraveling the truth behind Hillary’s incarceration, Jack becomes more and more obsessed with Charlotte. Secrets are revealed and fantasies brought to life in a sticky, sexy southern way.

Surprisingly Kidman brings a lot of sex appeal to the role of Charlotte, displaying a near pornographic aggressiveness.  And Cusack as Hillary is the perfect opposite to seductress Charlotte. He is creepy and crude, manipulative and possessive and there is always a surge of violence lurking below the surface.

McConaughey embodies the slightly greasy Ward with his usual blend of charm and sleaze, however there is more depth to the character, which he slowly excavates as the plot thickens. Another pleasant surprise is Efron as Jack. Although he is outshone by Kidman, Cusack and McConaughey, Efron does hold his own and his ‘graduate-like’ struggle is believable and quite endearing.

As the whole story is narrated by Macy Gray as the sassy, omniscient housekeeper Anita, her unique voice injects “The Paperboy” with it’s own flair. But director Lee Daniels does struggle to give the film a consistent flow and the narrative is often choppy. Maybe this is because the topic is so unsettling, the mixture of sex, violence and racism always unbalancing the plot.  However what the narrative and storytelling lack the strong acting makes up for, overall a good film but not one for sensitive stomachs.

Film Review: The Impossible

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2004 Thailand Tsunami, entertainment, Ewan McGregor, Film Review: The Impossible, Juan Antonia Bayona, movies, Naomi Watts, Oaklee Pendergast, Oscar Nomination best Actress, Samuel Joslin, Sergio Sanchez, The Impossible, Tom Holland

Naomi Watts and Tom Holland in The Impossible

The Impossible is based on the true story of a family who spent their 2004 Christmas Holidays in Thailand and were swept up in the devastating tsunami. Incredibly, although over 230,000 people were killed, the family of five survived and managed to find one another in the chaotic aftermath.

On Christmas morning Henry (Ewan McGregor) and Maria (Naomi Watts) unwrap their presents with their three boys Lucas (Tom Holland), Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast) and then play in the hotel pool, enjoying each others company, leaving all work and money worries behind. Suddenly a rumbling silences the playful laughter and within moments the entire family is swept up into a massive wave of water.

Maria finds herself being tossed and turned by brown murky water until she finally finds herself clinging to a tree screaming for her sons and husband.  By some miracle her eldest son Lucas hears her and together they end up in a chaotic hospital with Maria fighting for her life.

Separated from his wife Henry and his two small sons are struggling to come to terms with what has happened. Not willing to give in to despair Henry tries to find Maria and Lucas.

This impossible story makes for a great movie and thankfully director Juan Antonia Bayona and screenwriter Sergio Sanchez opted for a very realistic and gritty approach, there is no Hollywood grandeur or Disney plastic to distract from the emotional story.

However the strength of the film is mostly down to both McGregor and Watts. McGregor as Henry undergoes a very believable transformation from bland tourist to responsible father and husband. In an incredibly emotional scene he delivers a performance of a lifetime when he shows the crippling emotions Henry goes through when calling his wife’s father. Unable to speak and put into words what has happened he breaks down in sobbing tears of grief, fear and overwhelming agony.

Watts as Maria is just as incredible and it is not surprising that her performance is up for an Oscar. Her Maria is strong and caring yet utterly aware of the devastating situation she and her son are in. Struggling to survive she tries not to give in to the pain of her life-threatening injuries and even encourages her son to help as much as he can.

The Impossible is an old fashioned film about pain, devastation and human nature. It doesn’t sugar-coat the horrors of the natural disaster and at times is very vivid in its uncompromising portrayal. But in its center is the triumph of human kind, not diminishing any emotion, be it fear, pain or joy, making The Impossible a rare film and one that you will defiantly need your tissues for.

frivolous freedom

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Alice in Wonderland, miscellaneous, random, thoughths, time

Next week my time is no longer purely my own as I will have to plan my hours around teaching. On Monday the semester begins and while I enjoy interacting with students it will challenge my time-keeping skills and night-owl habits.

But I still have three days to be as frivolous with my time as I like, so I have decided to savour the freedom this holds and enjoy my very own unique brand of time-keeping.

Now this doesn’t mean I have nothing to do, quite the opposite my stack of corrections is growing not shrinking, and rightfully accuse me of neglect. Then there are courses to prepare, emails, blogs and reviews to write and mundane household chores to attend to. I also have  a few projects I want to do and I would love to try out my new flash and micro-lenses, I am reading a good book and want to curl up for a few hours with tea and tales. But it means I can sit and type at 2am if I please and have a lie in tomorrow, eat dinner way to late and maybe enjoy breakfast at noon.

I have never found it easy to abide by the time-schedule our society imposes on us, I have never quite understood why  we are meant to work from nine to five, go to bed early and rise early. Maybe I lack the discipline, maybe my my inner clock is just wound differently or maybe my mind enjoys the midnight-waking hours, but either way my time never seems to fit in with society.

So to celebrate my last few days of frivolous freedom I will live by my own inner clock, be free from convention and enjoy not needing to be on time. But on Monday, like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, I will be wielding my watch and muttering “I’m late, I’m late ! For a very important date. No time to say ‘Hello, Goodbye’.  I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.”

My 1960s wall-clock I bought for £5 and fixed up. At least something pretty dictates my time!