The Paper (1994)

Directed by Ron Howard. Starring Michael Keaton, Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei, Glenn Close, Randy Quaid, Spalding Gray, Lynne Thigpen, Amelia Campbell, Jason Alexander, Roma Maffia, Jack Kehoe, Catherine O’Hara, Jill Hennessy. [PG-13]

A day in the hectic life of a NYC newspaper, with Keaton’s metro editor chasing down the truth behind a hot murder story that may ruin the lives of two black youths; his very pregnant wife (Tomei) about to burst; Close’s managing editor insisting on running the story as is; Duvall’s editor-in-chief taking stock of his life after a cancer diagnosis; and so on. Smartly-paced but scarcely-credible drama has a dynamic lead performance and contains some knowing newsroom details, but too often succumbs to second-rate histrionics and dramatic silliness (there’s even a physical scrap between Close and Keaton while the latter struggles to stop the presses by shutting down the whole apparatus). David and Stephen Koepp’s script tries giving some of the characters rich personal lives, but with so much ground to cover, a lot of it comes across as cliché; just look at the obvious scenes involving O’Hara and Hennessy. Then there’s that Coca-Cola product placement… Randy Newman provides the music, including Oscar-nominated song, “Make Up Your Mind.” Clint Howard has a small role, and Jason Robards cameos.

50/100