VividSimon Simply Perfect

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

generationofswine I can see how, especially with Millennials how it won't have the same effect? "They worked for a paper? What on Earth is that? Why didn't people just get their news from the twitter feed?" Like trying to explain what a Blockbuster, a phone booth, or a record store were. Technology has sort of dated it.But even then it's worthwhile and oh so clever.Duvall is great as the reluctant father figure to a group or misfit reporters. Quaid the crazy uncle everyone knows, the weird paranoid co-worker we've all had that can't seem to stop making trouble. Glenn Close the horrible, ice queen, hateful boss we've all had to endure from time-to-time. Tomei does an excellent job of playing that poor working woman that suddenly finds herself facing the sacrifices of motherhood. And Keaton, in the lead, seems like he's just trying to hold it all together and act as the moral compass.You watch it for the characters, lovable, fail-able, disgruntled and hysterical as they weave their way in and out of what can best be described as a murder mystery with the potential of tearing the city apart.The plot, of course, the murder, is far tighter and a lot better than the movies you'll see today, but who did it, or rather who didn't do it takes a back seat to the characters whose antics are the real driving source of the movie.It's a great and entertaining movie, especially for anyone that likes to kick back and enjoy ensemble comedies.

adonis98-743-186503 Henry Hackett is the editor of a New York City tabloid. He is a workaholic who loves his job, but the long hours and low pay are leading to discontent. Also, publisher Bernie White faces financial straits, and has hatchetman Alicia Clark, Henry's nemesis, impose unpopular cutbacks. Henry's wife Martha, a hugely pregnant former reporter of his, is fed up because he has so little time for his family. He is therefore considering an offer from Paul Bladden to edit a paper like the New York Times, which would mean more money, shorter hours, more respectability...but might also be a bit boring for his tastes. But a hot story soon confronts Henry with tough decisions. The Paper is half dramatic and half funny and it lands perfectly thanks to a great performance by Michael Keaton and a good supporting cast although i do think that Spotlight was way way better more serious and more disturbing but i like this kind of movies anyways. The problem here is that the film doesn't have many memorable scenes, the cast is talented sure but in the end is sweet to look at but honestly i expected more as a movie and this whole thing with the murder takes the movie kinda off but in the end it's still a pretty good Ron Howard - Michael Keaton movie would i buy it on DVD tho? Honestly no but still it deserves better than a 6.6 that's for sure!!

DICK STEEL 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.

Jackson Booth-Millard Directed by Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code) and with an all-star cast, it was impossible for me not to give this comedy drama film a go, and I am so glad I did. Basically, it is 24 hours in the life of an ailing tabloid, with Henry Hackett (Michael Keaton) the editor of the New York Sun, he is a workaholic who loves his job, but at the same time he is struggling to keep up with life with his pregnant wife Martha (Marisa Tomei). Also in the building are publisher/editor-in-chief Bernie White (Robert Duvall) facing financial problems and putting work first instead of family, and Henry's nemesis, managing editor Alicia Clark (Glenn Close) who is planning cutbacks, telling him to consider leaving the New York Sun to be managing editor for the New York Sentinel. The big story on this day is the murder of two white businessman in a race-related killing, and two black brothers passing by are the suspects wrongly jailed. It is when Henry wants a source, he stole the name of, to tell him the truth about the brothers' guilt that the film really gets gripping. He needs a good picture of the brothers, he needs the quote from the source himself, and most important, he needs to change the article that they will release, so he needs to stop the presses! Alicia is not prepared to stop them, and says they will run the innocence story the next day, and she and Henry have an aggressive fight to get to the stop button, but even after Henry has stopped it, she fires him and they restart. Thankfully though she realises her mistake, but a gun shot in the local bar stops her finishing the phone call, and at the same time, Henry's wife is going to hemorrhage, needing anaesthetic for the baby, but don't worry, all problems are solved in the end. Also starring Randy Quaid as Michael McDougal, Jason Robards as Graham Keighley, Jason Alexander as Marion Sandusky, Spalding Gray as Paul Bladden, Catherine O'Hara as Susan, Lynne Thigpen as Janet and Clint Howard (Ron's brother) as Ray Blaisch. I will admit it didn't grip me for the first 20 or so minutes, but after this, it is a engaging and absorbing film all the way. With wisecracking dialogue, well cast actors, especially Keaton and Close, and fantastic manipulative moments, it grips you so much, you are desperate your prediction of events will be right. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Song for Randy Newman's "Make Up Your Mind". Very good!