The Paperboy (2012)

Despite my aversion for Matthew McConaughey —the less I see of this guy, the better I feel— I watched The Paperboy anyway because it has Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman peeing on his face and genitals and I wanted to see what he did to deserve that. 

The story follows an idealistic reporter, Ward Jansen (Matthew McConaughey), who returns to his hometown when Charlotte Bless (Nicole Kidman) asks him to prove that Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack), the man she met via letters and whom she is in love with, on death row for the murder of a sheriff, is innocent, and drags his college-drop-out younger brother, Jack (Zac Efron), into the investigation.

It's not the first time I see a "let's prove this man is innocent before he's executed" story on screen, but The Paperboy sure knows how to stand out from the crowd as it's very different from anything I've seen before. Unfortunately, the story is rather confused, it feels dragged and, as it progresses, it becomes less and less interesting. Also, there are many pointless subplots that kind of get in the way and distract from the main storyline.

The characters aren't much better. They are quite contrived and bizarre, they lack characterization and development —the film is filled with one-dimensional caricatures—, and they are unlikeable and difficult if not impossible to sympathize with. I didn't even care about any of them, except for Efron's Jack, who sadly isn't much more than a horny young man, and yet you care about him because he's about the only innocent person in here. 

Despite this, the actors, at least some of them, still manage to do a very good job and make The Paperboy a little more bearable. Nicole Kidman is great as Charlotte Bless, an ageing bimbo/nymphomaniac/slut who has formed a relationship with a convicted man via letters, John Cusack is pretty creepy in the role of Hillary Van Wetten, the man on death row, and Zac Efron does a pretty good job as the innocent, inexperienced Jack. As for McConaughey, he is completely wooden. 

Millennium Films

The acting, however, is not enough to conceal how trashy The Paperboy is. It just deals with racial and sexual contents in a stupid, soap-opera-like way, and there are some scenes that are beyond uncomfortable to watch, and I'm not talking about Nicole Kidman peeing on Zac Efron, but Kidman tearing the crotch from her tights so that John Cusack could masturbate in front of everyone else.

A Most Violent Year (2014)

I've been wanting to see A Most Violent Year for ages because of Jessica Chastain but I've been putting it off because, honestly, the film itself didn't really appeal me. It still didn't but I gave it a shot anyway because of Chastain and Oscar Isaac. 

The story is set in 1981 New York City and follows Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac), a successful and ambitious immigrant, owner of a heating oil company who is planning to grab a bigger piece of New York's gas industry while dealing with very dangerous competitor and a hungry district attorney (David Oyelowo) who starts investigating Adel's company's financial records,. In the meantime, his wife, Anna (Jessica Chastain), accuses him of not doing enough to protect his family.

The biggest, if not the only issue with A Most Violent Year is the story, it is simply too thin to fill a two hour film, it feels dragged, like a repetition of the same things over and over again, and there are subplots with the potential to be involving and complex but get lost in a glass of water. It's not compelling as a gangster story should be, and barely held my attention.

Just like the story, the characters too are never that compelling. They are quite stiff and one-dimensional, they don't have a backstory —because of this, in Abel's case, stoicism is often mistaken for naivety—, some of them are nothing but plot devices —at least they make things a bit more logical— and most of them are stereotypes. Because of this lazy writing, I found it very hard to care about any of them.

Somehow, the actors still manage to do a good job. Oscar Isaac gives a captivating performance as Abel Morales, a man who does not believe in violence and does not accept it as a mean and captures Abel's moral struggle very well. Jessica Chastain gives yet another magnetic performance as Anna, Abel's powerful wife and business partner —unfortunately, she doesn't get enough screen time to make a bigger impact. The chemistry between Isaac and Chastain is amazing and makes their relationship and its developments more interesting. David Oyelowo also does a good job as the district attorney who wants to bring Abel down.

A24

As for the direction, J.C. Chandor does a great job at delivering an eighties look. From the dark and gloomy cinematography to the make-up and costumes, it really feels like being back in the eighties. He doesn't, however, really build much tension, and because of this, A Most Violent Year is ultimately very dull. Not to mention the utter lack of grittiness and violence —contrary to what one would assume from the title, the film ditches action for dialogue but unfortunately, it's not very sharp.