Movie Review: The Paper (1994)

Genre: Dramedy  

Director: Ron Howard  

Starring: Michael Keaton, Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei, Glenn Close, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards  
Running Time: 112 minutes  

Synopsis: In Manhattan, Henry (Michael Keaton) is the dedicated Metro editor at the scrappy Sun newspaper. He is embarrassed when his team fails to cover a late-night and seemingly racially-motivated double-murder. Nevertheless Henry is being interviewed for a role at the prestigious Sentinel paper, a career move encouraged by his pregnant wife Martha (Marisa Tomei), a former reporter. Meanwhile Henry spars with rival editor Alicia (Glenn Close), who is dealing with personal financial issues, and managing editor Bernie (Robert Duvall), who has health concerns. When two innocent black youths are arrested in the double murder case, Henry sacrifices everything to uncover the truth, but he only has a few hours before the next edition goes to press. 

What Works Well: Taking place over roughly 24 hours, this is a madcap, high-energy, multi-storyline, humour-infused celebration of newspaper office dynamics. A malfunctioning air conditioning system, complaints about office chairs, petty coverage of parking disputes, career decision points, personal and family pressures, debates about which stories to cover, and the scramble to obtain photographs, all get in the way - or provide fuel for - the business of uncovering the truth and reporting on the biggest stories of the day. Ron Howard maintains a remarkably firm grip on the barely organized chaos, and an excellent cast invests in the disparate characters inhabiting the newsroom.

What Does Not Work As Well: A few too many long tracking shots within the newsroom creep into the final cut, and some of the attempts at humour degenerate into unbecoming physical slapstick or just pure shouting.

Key Quote:

Henry: A clipboard and a confident wave will get you into any building in the world!



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