'The Paperboy' review: Just embarrassing  'The Paperboy'  'The
Paperboy' (October 2, 2012)  *1/2 (out of four)  What an odd
title “The Paperboy” is for a movie with so little story.
Technically there's a plot, in which Jack (Zac Efron) helps his
older brother Ward (Matthew McConaughey), a reporter for the
Miami Times, investigate the possible innocence of convicted
killer Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack). There's just so little
incident to “The Paperboy,” adapted from the book by Pete Dexter
(who co-wrote the script) and directed by co-writer Lee Daniels
(“Precious”) with the same gleeful enthusiasm for shameless
filth he brought to his debut, “Shadowboxer.”  If you haven't
seen that film, characters played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and
Mo'Nique are dating, and characters played by Cuba Gooding Jr.
and Helen Mirren have sex. And those are far from the movie's
strangest, least convincing moments.  Daniels and Dexter
seemingly forgot to detail the “Paperboy” investigation while
focusing on the pointless framing