The Paper (1994)

Such a frustrating disappointment

hyped garbage

Beautiful, moving film.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I'm entirely mystified by the low ratings for what is perhaps Ron Howard's best film. Apollo 13 is more spectacular, true enough. But The Paper is a greater rarity, a 'small' story, spectacularly well done.I've seen this film numerous times - but to do so, I had to buy it on DVD from the UK, because no proper North American edition existed. Even as I write this (September 2016), there's STILL only a cropped full-screen DVD at Amazon.com, and no Blu-ray. Incredible, considering that Ron Howard is (I think rather undeservedly) considered one of Hollywood's top directors.The Paper starts with a brilliant script, by veteran writers David and Stephen Koepp. They absolutely nail all the plot points along several beautifully intertwining story arcs: Michael Keaton trying to land a big story, his wife having a baby, his editor trying to reconcile with an alienated daughter, and a cocky columnist feuding with the city's parking commissioner. Amazingly, these threads all tie up.Ron Howard, not usually the most flamboyant director, does a terrific job of pacing the film. He also uses a subtle but superb approach to filming the newsroom scenes, keeping the camera floating around the cubicles, creating a sense of the perpetual state of urgency imposed by a daily deadline.All the performances are terrific. Michael Keaton is funny, angry, emotionally conflicted. Marisa Tomei is charming and spunky as usual. Duvall is perfect as the grizzled editor. Glenn Close is suitably vile as the villain. And Randy Quaid delivers yet another unheralded mini-masterpiece, as an outspoken columnist... with a gun.If this film had been made in the 1940s, it would have starred Clark Gable and Jean Arthur and would have been directed by Howard Hawks. And today it would be regarded as a classic. For some reason, instead, The Paper has been nearly forgotten by everyone.The Paper is flatly one of the best films about the newspaper business, and quite simply an almost perfect film in every sense. It doesn't tackle big philosophical issues (much) - but what it does, it does as well as any film has ever done. It's funny, exciting, emotionally intense and utterly satisfying. I enjoy and appreciate its unexpected depths more with each viewing.See this film any way you can - short of purchasing the abominable pan-and-scan DVD.

The Paper is one of those movies I revisit every once in awhile, after having seen it multiple of times when I was younger. And with visit, I fall in love with it all over again.What's funny, with this 8/7/13 latest viewing, is that they knew their kind, back in 1994, was on their way out. Talk about foreshadowing!Now, the newspaper business isn't extinct yet, but probably will be soon. I know I haven't subscribed to a newspaper in probably 15-16 years, but I did love reading them – despite the black fingers and stacks of old papers to be taken out as downfalls.I digress. My point is, if anyone watches this today, for the first time, they may find it completely outdated. Case in point: (chain) smoking in buildings, beepers and least of all: the newspaper business trying to be the first to nab a story when it only publishes once a day and at night.This is sad. This movie is literally action and suspense-packed from minute one. I enjoy the progression of these characters, their deadlines, stress, movements, dialogue and depth. I believe this movie is incredibly made well, fun, funny and is worth every minute of screen time. So, if you're a first time viewer, just think: 1994 and move on and along with these fantastic characters.I also fancy 24-hour movies, or films that take place in one day'ish. This one begins in the morning, and follows reporter/editor Henry (a fantastic performance from Michael Keaton) for one complete day and his plight to tell the truth vs. what's easy to publish that might ruin two boy's lives. They're accused of murder and this particular newspaper's front page (alone) might convict them. He needs to fight deadlines, problems, his own superiors and the pending birth of his first child. You feel every bit of his stress and love it at the same time.Every single actor in this movie gave their 100% and had incredible depth and believability. But, namely, I loved Keaton's Henry, Glenn Close's Alicia, Robert Duvall's Bernie and Randy Quaid's Michael. Notably, and as a TV's The Incredible Hulk fan growing up, it's awesome to see the name "Jack McGee" show up in the credits. (He's a minor character, but that name…in association with a movie about an all-but tabloid…is gold for a fan of the Hulk series like me.)I don't award too many films with 5/5 stars (or in IMDb's case, 10/10,) but besides the fact I grew up wanting to be a journalist (and studied it in college many moons ago,) I fall more and more in love with this film as the day progresses with each viewing. I love the story, the fast pace, the cinematography, the comedic lines and above all else, the characters. I absolutely love this film.On a side note, it's sad to say, in 1994, and in 2013…racial tensions and crimes almost match. This makes this movie relevant, even today, but not for good reasons.

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.

"Things can change in 24 hours." One of the quotes from the movie "The Paper" I have learned a lot from this movie, it showed me how things got done, what is the competition and what can change in 24 hours. With an all-star cast of Michael Keaton, Robert Duvall and Marisa Tomei and more, they used there acting skills to show what the characters would be like in a real paper business. Well throughout the movie I have noticed that everyone is always working from sun up to sun down, this is a curial thing to make sure that there news is the most up to date as it can be. Throughout the movie they are covering a story about two African American kids that were blamed for a murder, except for they did not do it, they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. So throughout one day in the movie "the Paper" they were trying to see if the kids were not guilty so they can be the only ones to print the "right" thing on there front page. This shows journalism at its best, they had teams that went to different places trying to get all the information they can get to prove this innocence's. After hours and hours of trying and going to places and getting shot down, they finally went to a cop and got what they needed, saving it just in time, printing what they wanted to print. Another thing was that just like in the real world there were chains of commands, this was broken a lot in this movie to get what the wanted for the story, but there was some scud things, such as the bar fight and the fight in the paper room. The story gave a great example at what goes on in a paper room and what can happen or and will.