The Paper (1994)

Glenn Close as Alicia Clark

Have you seen "Network"? It's an amazing film (also currently available on Netflix Streaming) about the compromise, the cynicism, and the aspirations and realities of the business of the news. That was a great film, Ron Howard's "The Paper" is not.

"The Paper" tells the story of the day in the life of the New York Sun, primarily from the viewpoint of Metro Desk Editor, Henry Hackett.  Henry is played by Michael Keaton in a very non-nuanced performance. And, that's really where the trouble begins. Nothing in this movie is nuanced, the characters are strictly caricatures of what you would expect to find in a newsroom. You've seen all of these folks before... the cast of colorful characters that here are ultimately bland and colorless. Robert Duvall phones in his role as the gruff but wise Editor, Glenn Close makes what she can of a terribly thinly veiled version of Faye Dunaway's character in "Network". There are seemingly dozens of different story lines swirling around in the film, seemingly packed to the brim in an attempt to add to the forced frenetic pacing of the script. The main story line is so self righteous and condescending as to almost be offensive.

If this is sounding harsh, it's because there was so much promise to this film, a terrifically capable cast, a great director, and potentially - a great story. Ultimately "The Paper" is far more of The Enquirer, than The New York Times.

Rating: Not Great
Parent's Notes: Language, Adult Situations, and probably just boring.
Links: IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia