Ron Howard has a history of making entertaining films that tend towards weak conclusions (one could call this the "happy endings" syndrome). Joining PARENTHOOD and FAR AND AWAY in this category is Mr. Howard's newest release, THE PAPER. For something that starts out as a boisterous, amusing, potentially-incisive look at the newspaper business and the people who run it, this motion picture finishes with a relative whimper.
Henry Hackett (Michael Keaton) is at a watershed, and the next twenty-four hours are going to determine a lot--perhaps more than he could imagine. Caught in a dilemma between two jobs--his current one at the tabloid-like NEW YORK SUN and an offer from the prestigious NEW YORK SENTINEL--Henry must make a decision. On one hand there are factors that argue for the career change: his pregnant wife Martha (Marisa Tomei) wants security and his bitter feud with his boss Alicia Clark (Glenn Close) is getting nastier by the moment. On the other hand, Henry doesn't want to leave the friendly chaos of THE SUN and the friends he has made while there.
No viewer is likely to be bored during THE PAPER. The film moves along quickly, using mobile cameras and rapid cuts to keep the energy level high and the pacing crisp. This is especially true in the newsroom scenes, as director Ron Howard attempts to convey the spirit and atmosphere of the disorganized-but-productive work environment. His eye for detail is evident.
Away from the paper's offices, the movie is less successful. The personal lives of Henry and his co-workers aren't all that interesting, and seem scripted rather than real. This is especially true during the drawn-out melodrama that characterizes the last fifteen minutes. There are also several out-of-place scenes with Robert Duvall and Jason Alexander commiserating at a bar. The contrivance used to incorporate these into the overall plot is a little too obvious.
One scene within THE SUN's building that rings false takes place in the middle of a crucial press run. The climactic struggle that ensues between two of the main characters looks like it belongs more in a Three Stooges movie than a pseudo-real look at the behind-the-scenes newspaper business.
But there's a lot in THE PAPER that works. Although most of the characters are types, the actors play them with sympathy and understanding. Three-dimensionality may not be achieved, but attempts are made to give the men and women in this film some depth, and the freshness of the performances helps a great deal.
The main performers--Keaton, Close, and Duvall--do the kinds of solid jobs expected from them, but it's a pair of less prominent figures that steal their share of scenes. Randy Quaid is magnificent as the gun- toting, paranoid McDougal. Although not a developed character in any sense, McDougal has some of the best one-liners. Then there's Spalding Gray who, in two appearances, sends up to perfection a stuffy NEW YORK TIMES-type editor.
The dialogue is frequently snappy--presumably the product of screenwriters with ears for the way people actually talk. There's a fair amount of natural humor, and only a few occasions when the laughs are forced.
THE PAPER is a crowd pleaser and, regardless of any viewer's experience (or lack thereof) with the behind-the-scenes wrangling that goes on in newspaper offices, the story is compelling enough to be affable and entertaining. While there are no startling revelations here, the film's atmosphere contains enough strength of realism that more than one viewer may momentarily think of the goings-on at THE SUN as they sit down with their morning cup of coffee and look at the day's headlines.
By : James Berardinelli
Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating: 3
After establishing himself with gentle mass-market fantasies and taking a break for an overstuffed comedy, this man got the bug to be Taken Seriously as a Director; the results tended to be as notable for their excesses as their successes. Sound like I'm describing Steven Spielberg? Not surprising. Ron Howard's career as a director has often seemed too consciously patterned after Spielberg's (although there are clearly worse models), and has represented much that is best and worst about his much more successful colleague's work. THE PAPER is one of these films. It's a bit too busy and precocious for its own good, but still has enough of a charming throwback quality that I was willing to forgive many of its flaws.
THE PAPER stars Michael Keaton as Henry Hackett, metro editor of a New York tabloid daily called The Sun. In the course of one hot Friday, Henry and his colleagues will face a journalistic moment of truth. Henry has been offered a position at the more respectable New York Sentinel, much to the delight of his very pregnant wife Marty (Marisa Tomei). However, Henry finds himself waffling on the move as he is caught up in the biggest story of his life, an apparently racially-motivated slaying which Henry discovers may be something else entirely. As deadline approaches, Henry pleads with editor Bernie White (Robert Duvall) for time to get his story, while managing editor Alicia Clark (Glenn Close) pushes for a front page which highlights the two black fall guys arrested in the case.
THE PAPER is delivered with an energy that matches the barely controlled chaos of the newsroom, and that energy is nearly enough to sell the film all by itself. The go-go pacing echoes newspaper films of past decades, the same films the current THE HUDSUCKER PROXY parodies. Indeed, while there is a decidedly 90's spin to the proceedings (no film of the 40's would ask if its hero were spending too little time with his wife), THE PAPER still features such standbys as the gruff editor, the wet-behind-the-ears reporter (here a photographer), and an ethical dilemma. There is nothing daringly original about the way THE PAPER serves up these elements, but the setting itself is so lively and the cast generally so engaging that the lack of originality doesn't assault you. Keaton, in his third collaboration with Howard, delivers a solid protagonist even though the role demands little of his considerable talents. Marisa Tomei has some delightful moments as Marty, herself a reporter going through career withdrawals and dealing with her fears that Henry will always be too busy for their baby. Randy Quaid gets the showy role as a paranoid attack columnist, and Catherine O'Hara has a funny cameo as Marty's bitter friend. Less successful are Close and Duvall, but that certainly isn't the fault of the two talented actors.
The weak link in the script by David and Steven Koepp is an unnecessary subplot involving Duvall as the editor dealing with a diagnosis of prostate cancer and trying to reconcile with his estranged daughter. While the intention was clearly to establish a parallel between what Bernie is and what Henry is becoming, Bernie's story is never integrated with Henry's We never see Henry responding to Bernie's situation; for all we know, he never even knows about it. As a result, it seems like we're getting snippets from an entirely different movie. Bernie's story is just filling up minutes.
It's too bad, because a resolution connected to Bernie's family troubles would have been much more effective than the one we get. That resolution includes a bar scene which suffers from extremely sloppy editing leading into not one but two medical crises. It seems like a Ron Howard film isn't complete without someone dying or nearly dying, as though he doesn't trust any conclusion not based on the biggest possible emotion. What had been a taut, energetic film about priorities and the thrill of reporting bogs down seriously in the final fifteen minutes. It's not quite enough to sabotage THE PAPER's strengths completely, but it does show once again that Ron Howard the "serious director" too often equates serious with saccharine.
