Not entirely sure what to make of The Paperboy. I kind of liked Precious, but probably not as much as everyone else seemed to. But Lee Daniels has an eye, so seeing him transport his story from rough inner-city to sweaty swamp life is at least interesting. I’m also a sucker for pulpy stories, I guess similar to Matthew McConaughey who adds this to a career peppered (not enough, in my opinion) with pulpy, noir-y work. Most of the controversy surrounding this at Cannes focused on Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman and a golden shower amongst what appears to be numerous sex scenes between the two. I suppose this is also Efron doing an actual, proper movie for grown-ups and attempting to leave High School Musical behind for good. All that into account, it looks like a curiosity at minimum and it really is amazing that the Cannes Film Festival audience has yet to grow any kind of thicker skin to avoid it panning movies owing purely to single scenes.
