Stop the presses!
It's an exclamation every newspaper journalist dreams of shouting - if only to supplement the exhilaration of printing a lead story fantastic enough to stop the media. And director Ron Howard's latest film, "The Paper," has journalists and non-journalists alike talking about the newest "newsworthy" movie.
The film features a star-studded cast including Micheal Keaton, Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei, Robert Duvall and Randy Quaid, who all work at the New York Sun, a financially strapped tabloid that, between lifeless reporters and incompetent photographers, has come to settle on printing a "commuter paper" that consistently misses all the top news stories.
Keaton stars as Henry Hackett, the restless Metro Editor facing pressure from his wife Marty, played by Tomei, to accept a higher paying, less demanding job at the New York Sentinel to help care for the baby the couple is expecting.
Facing a job offer in an interview at the Sentinel, Keaton must decide between his friends and co-workers at the Sun and the glitter of the Sentinel. Instead, he steals the lead story idea from the Sentinel's office - and begins the most strenuous day of his career.
"The Paper" takes the viewer through 24 hours at a city newspaper, from the moment a crime occurs to the moment the newpaper reaches stores the next day.
The film truly has something to please everyone: drama, humor, suspense, romance, and action. From the busy newspaper offices to the bars, to police headquarters and the hospital, "The Paper" is fast moving and highly entertaining, without overly sensationalizing the newspaper scene.
Keaton is by far the star of the show. His determined, driven character is perfectly executed and refreshingly new: it is not often that the newspaper journalist is developed as a main character and it was a welcome change.
Close plays Managing Editor Alicia Clark, Keaton's rival and superior - in the office and out. Clark is proud and cold, and not well liked by the reporters and staff over which she presides. When the Editor in Chief, played by Duvall, has to leave early, the decisions are left up to her, putting her in a position of authority she is not quite ready to handle.
While the cast is comprised of competent actors, the magic is more in their individual roles than in the way the characters interact. Keaton is great as the diehard editor willing to sacrifice everything for a chance at the big story. Close is almost equally enjoyable as the money-conscious bureaucratic figure who knocks down every idea Hackett suggests.
If "The Paper" has one major weakness, it is Howard's incorporation of too many things going on at the same time: between a murder, a pregnancy, a shooting, a character dealing with cancer, a mob ring, a few family crises and the general confusion of the running of a newspaper, the view could easily get lost in several subplots that are never fully developed.
Duvall's role definitely leaves something to be desired. For a fairly accomplished actor, his role was underdeveloped and somewhat disconnected from the central plot.
Duvall's character does, however, remind the viewer of the central theme running through the film: the value of time and how much can be lost or missed if one lets time pass him or her by. One of the films most memorable lines is the closing line: "Because your whole world can change in 24 hours."
Consider stopping the presses for this one - "The Paper" is easily one of the most entertaining films of the year.
"The Paper" can now be seen at Lebanon Cinemas in the Miracle Mile Shopping Center.
