The Paperboy

Director Lee Daniels' follow up to Precious is a strange beast, quite unlike any other movie you may have seen, revelling in its trashiness to such a depth that it's likely to disgust as many viewers as it attracts. Told in flashback by house maid Anita (Macy Gray), The Paperboy is a murder-mystery set against the backdrop of a hot and sticky late-1960's Florida. Matthew McConaughey plays Ward Jensen, a big-shot reporter returning to his home town to investigate the case of Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack), a man on death row for murders he may or may not have committed. Helping him in his investigations are Ward's younger brother Jack (Zac Efron), his writing partner Yardley (David Oyelowo) and Hillary's pen pal/potential girlfriend Charlotte (Nicole Kidman).

What could have potentially been a 60's themed John Grisham adaptation quickly becomes something else entirely, as The Paperboy is not nearly as interested in its plot mechanisations as it is in developing a mood and getting the best out of its actors. There is an overwhelming sense of sex pervading every inch of this movie, with the characters wearing very few clothes due to the overbearing heat of Florida; Efron in particular spends most of his screen time in nothing but y-fronts. What's more, there are plenty of sexually explicit scenes, most of which involving Kidman's trashtastic Charlotte doing something unspeakably naughty.

Speaking of Kidman, she has rarely been better than she is here, being barely recognisable beneath a platinum blonde wig and three inches of make-up, all covered in the tightest dresses known to man. McConaughey continues his run of stellar character work following the likes of Magic Mike and Killer Joe, and it's fair to say that Efron has now fully shed his High School Musical image. Cusack is a bit of a tough one to call, with his over-the-top character being sooooo very disgusting that he'll make your skin crawl.

But great performances can only carry the threadbare plot for so long, and whether or not you'll like The Paperboy will depend heavily on how much you like watching people wallow in their own depravity. This is a tough film to watch, and even if you do enjoy it, it's unlikely you'll ever want to watch it again.