Matthew McConaughey

DVD of the Week: The Paperboy

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Set in 1969 Florida, The Paperboy is a coming of age film nestled within a deliciously pulpy crime drama.  The story is centered around an overlooked younger son (talented up-and-comer Zac Efron) who is thrilled when his older brother (Matthew McConaughey) returns to their swampy backwater after making it in the big time of Miami.  The older brother is an investigative reporter who seeks the truth about a sensational death row case.

The strength of the film is in the supporting characters.  David Oyelowo plays the older brother’s cynical and self-absorbed partner.  John Cusack’s death row inmate is utterly animalistic, a real departure for Cusack.  Nicole Kidman plays the convict’s pen pal fiance; the younger brother falls for her, but she’s apparently screwing everyone except him.

But the surprise performance in The Paperboy is by recording artist Macy Gray, who plays the family domestic.  With complete authenticity, Gray is playful, hurt, dignified, angry, funny, tough, cagy and vulnerable and, as the narrator, she keeps the movie together.  It’s a really superb performance, and I look forward to seeing Gray in more high profile parts.

This is director Lee Daniels’ follow up to his heart rending Precious.  Once again, his  character driven story-telling is first rate.  The Paperboy is dark, violent, sexy and gripping with vivid characters.

Watch for Kidman’s particularly alarming treatment for jellyfish stings.

The Paperboy: a trashy Nicole Kidman and a canny Macy Gray

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Set in 1969 Florida, The Paperboy is a coming of age film nestled within a deliciously pulpy crime drama.  The story is centered around an overlooked younger son (talented up-and-comer Zac Efron) who is thrilled when his older brother (Matthew McConaughey) returns to their swampy backwater after making it in the big time of Miami.  The older brother is an investigative reporter who seeks the truth about a sensational death row case.

The strength of the film is in the supporting characters.  David Oyelowo plays the older brother’s cynical and self-absorbed partner.  John Cusack’s death row inmate is utterly animalistic, a real departure for Cusack.  Nicole Kidman plays the convict’s pen pal fiance; the younger brother falls for her, but she’s apparently screwing everyone except him.

But the surprise performance in The Paperboy is by recording artist Macy Gray, who plays the family domestic.  With complete authenticity, Gray is playful, hurt, dignified, angry, funny, tough, cagy and vulnerable and, as the narrator, she keeps the movie together.  It’s a really superb performance, and I look forward to seeing Gray in more high profile parts.

This is director Lee Daniels’ follow up to his heart rending Precious.  Once again, his  character driven story-telling is first rate.  The Paperboy is dark, violent, sexy and gripping with vivid characters.

Watch for Kidman’s particularly alarming treatment for jellyfish stings.

Killer Joe: OMG

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Here’s a movie that will either thrill or disgust you. Either way, you sure ain’t gonna be bored.

In Killer Joe, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon and Emile Hirsch play a white trash family with a get rich quick scheme.  They give a hit man (Matthew McConaughey) the teen daughter (Juno Temple) as a deposit.  They’re all as dumb as a bag of hammers, so what could go wrong?

Killer Joe was directed by William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) and shot by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (The Right Stuff, The Natural) in just 20 days.  These guys know how to tell a story, and Killer Joe pops and crackles.

Killer Joe is rated NC-17 for good reason and Friedkin accepts the rating without complaint.  Indeed, Killer Joe has its share of Sam Peckinpah style screen violence and an unsettling deflowering scene.  But the piece de resistance is an over-the-top sadistic encounter between McConaughey and Gershon involving a chicken drumstick,  at once disturbing and darkly hilarious.   But Sam Fuller and Quentin Tarantino would have loved it, and so did I.  Nevertheless, some viewers will feel like they need a shower after this movie.

The cast does a good job, but the picture really belongs to McConaughey and Temple.  McConaughey is currently recalibrating his career a la Alec Baldwin – he’s moving from playing pretty boys in the rom coms to taking meatier, more interesting roles.  He is both funny and menacing as Killer Joe (and I liked him in Bernie and Magic Mike, too).  I’m really looking forward to seeing him in Mud and The Paperboy.

The movie slowly makes Juno Temple’s character more and more central, until she takes command of the denouement.  Temple is always sexy (Kaboom and Dirty Girl), and here she is able to ratchet down her intelligence to play a very simple character, always exploited by others, who is finally empowered to take control.

I saw Killer Joe at a screening where Friedkin said that the screenwriter saw Juno Temple’s character as the receptacle for all feminine rage.  Friedkin himself sees it as a Cinderella story – just one where Cinderella’s Prince Charming is a professional killer.  hat’s all pretty deep sledding to me – I see Killer Joe as a very dark and violent comedy – kinda like In Bruges with twisted sex.

Magic Mike: male strippers, no magic

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MAGIC MIKE

Magic Mike is about watching male strippers, period.  There are a couple lame plot threads, but it’s about the stripping.  The star, Channing Tatum, is winning and impressively athletic.  Matthew McConaughey helps re-brand his career with a funny performance as a sleazeball strip club owner – and shows off his body, too.

Director Steven Soderbergh is known for his prestige pictures but still relishes making B movies.  Good for him – he brought something special to the B picture Haywire last year (which co-starred Tatum).  But there’s no magic in Magic Mike.  And, at 110 minutes, it’s too long.