The Paper (1994)

"Boy, sometimes you can just smell a horrendously shitty day on the way, can't ya!" 

Director

Ron Howard

Cast

Michael Keaton - Henry Hackett

Robert Duvall - Bernie White

Glenn Close -Alicia Clark

Marisa Tomei - Martha Hackett

Randy Quaid - Michael McDougal

Jason Alexander - Marion Sandusky

I wanted to post this review in October. Clearly, that didn't happen. 

I've seen Ron Howard's movie The Paper before on the library app, Hoopla. It has always been available on Hoopla for the four years I've used the app.

And then when I wanted to watch it again for the sake of writing a review, it wasn't there anymore. Typical!

Meanwhile, the majority of my movie loving attention during October and November was focused on horror. 

I started a horror film podcast to go with my horror film blog 1000daysofhorror.blogspot.com, so my attention has primarily been on that during the Halloween season.

However, this blog is still just as important to me. There's a lot of not-so-talked about movies out there for me to watch and review. 

My intention was to post at least one blog entry every month on here and on 1000DaysOfHorror.blogspot.com. Sadly, it just didn't happen here last October. 

November was a month of catching up on unfinished content, and movies to watch. Plus I took a vacation over Thanksgiving. 

Through it all, I tried and tried to obtain a copy of The Paper. I even had trouble trying to snag a copy at my local library. I waited an entire month for an Interlibrary Loan to arrive. Finally, I got it. 

As a former newspaper reporter, films about the field of journalism still grab my attention. I'm surprised this title seems too often overlooked among the litany of mass communication-centric movies like Citizen Kane, All the Presidents Men, Spotlight, Broadcast News, and The Front Page (a personal favorite). That's a bit unusual to me. 

The movie is entertaining, funny, and captures the vibe of a news room in such a superb way. Plus it has a cast of big name actors - Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei, Randy Quaid, Jason Alexander, and Catherine O' Hara. Also, it's directed by Ron Howard. This is no small production.

When the fantastic 2015 movie Spotlight, also starring Michael Keaton, was released, I asked a bunch of my journalism pals, including my editor at the time, if they heard of The Paper. I didn't get a single "yes." Not even an "oh, wait...I think I've heard of it." Everyone I asked seemed clueless. 

In The Paper, Michael Keaton plays news reporter Henry Hackett who puts in a lot of time and effort at his job with The New York Sun - a fictional tabloid paper. 

The film takes place in a 24-hour period as Hackett puts in a long day, receives low pay, and struggles with putting family before work. The amount of events that can take place in a newsroom in one working day could fill up a calendar. Often, it does.

His wife, Martha (Marisa Tomei), who's nine-months pregnant and ready to pop, knows what he's going through as she was in the news reporting field prior to her pregnancy. 

Glenn Close and Michael Keaton in The Paper (1994).

Regardless of being bothered by how much more attention he's been giving the paper, she's encouraging him to interview for a reporting job at the more respectable and better paying Sentinel newspaper. 

On top of all that, Hackett's editor-in-chief, Bernie (Robert Duvall) tells him in confidence that he has a prostate the size of a bagel, and wishes he had put his family over his career now that his health is on the line.
Financial problems loom over the paper as well. The managing editor, Alicia Clark (Glenn Close) - someone Hackett cares little to none for - begins implementing dreaded cutbacks around the office.

Meanwhile, a huge story unfolds as two young black teenagers find the bodies of two wealthy white businessmen gunned down in a car parked somewhere in Brooklyn. Racist anti-white slurs are spray painted on the vehicle to disguise the crime. And the murder weapon is laying near the car. 

The teenagers happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Just as one of the teens is about to pick up the gun out of curiosity, not realizing what a big mistake that would be, a woman walking her dog spots them and cries for help. 

Scared, the teens run off. In no time, based on the witness's claims, the two of them are suspected of murder. The crime is quickly making headlines (except at the Sun) and their descriptions are all over the morning news.

Crime beat reporter Michael McDougal (Randy Quaid) tells Hackett he heard two officers chatting over the police scanner about the arrests being more of a PR move before a dispatcher cuts in to shut them up. This gets the ball rolling for Hackett.

While obsessing over the story, and trying to persuade others at the paper to cover the story with him, Martha is worried he'll bail on dinner with the parents. She also doesn't want him to blow the Sentinel's invitation for a job interview.

During that interview, Hackett tries to pursued the Sentinel editor, Paul Bladden (Spalding Gray) to give him a little of what the Sentinel has on the two dead guys. Of course, he won't budge on that. But while he's distracted, Hackett peeks at what Bladden has scribbled on his legal pad. It's a golden opportunity for the Sun. If Hackett chases the lead he stole from Bladden, it'll destroy his chances to work for the Sentinel. But the Sun can beat the competition with an accurate angle other papers surely won't have by the end of the day.

As the news story progresses, Hackett and his team just need confirmation for the stolen lead that the two dead guys were on a questionable payroll and may have lost a lot of money to less-than-savory people.

Bernie says if Hackett's story can't come to fruition, they'll just have to run an unrelated story. 

Martha steps in to help her husband by speaking with her friend in the Justice Department. He shows her records proving the two guys were bankers who helped themselves to a large sum of cash from an investor - a trucking company with links to the mafia.

Clark thinks Hackett is chasing a dead end and in no way can obtain what he needs by deadline. But Hackett persists, even telling the paper's new photographer, Robin, to get a great shot of the two teens on their perp walk from the court to the police car that'll take them to jail.

Hackett desperately tries to gain confirmation on what McDougal heard over the scanner. The cops just have to say it on record. The deadline, already extended, is coming up fast. Martha reminds him again that she expects him to be at the dinner with his parents. 

Of course he's fashionably late to the restaurant for dinner, and is clearly preoccupied with this news story sitting on his shoulders. 

Hackett can't sit still, and doesn't even make it through ordering. 

He excuses himself much to Martha's anger, and heads straight to the police precinct with McDougal to try and have an investigator, Richie, who's McDougal's police contact, give them the confirmation they need. 

After corning him in the men's room, Richie finally tells them what they need to hear. 

"These kids...they didn't do it." 

Now he has to put all the pieces together- Robin's photo (if she took a good one), confirmation the two dead guys were on the Sedona payroll and lost some money to the displeasure of the mob, and the innocence of those two teen bystanders. 

Robin miraculously snaps one good picture for page one. But Clark doesn't think Hackett is going to make it on time, especially since she thinks he's out having dinner with his wife. So, she runs the presses with Robin's photo and her own headling, "Gotcha!" 

Hackett gets back to the office, and realizes the presses are running. 

He tells Clark he has everything he needs, but she won't budge with "Gotcha!" Despite his protest that it's misinformation about two innocent kids, she's willing to run a correction the next day.

For her, the presses have to run. For Hackett, the extended deadline can be damned. He takes it upon himself to say what every reporter has dreamed of saying at least once in their career.

"Stop the presses!" 

Stopping the presses will cost the paper more money in production expenses and overtime pay for several employees. Nevertheless, the truth takes precedence, especially when the reputation of two individuals is on the line.  

The battle of wills erupt into a fist fight between Clark and Hackett. No other journalism movie has such an epic battle of wills like The Paper. 

Editors and writers often scream at each other. Even I've screamed at my former editor before. And if he's reading this, I still love you, man...and not just because you're reading my blog.

What takes place between Hackett and Clark goes beyond a mere screaming rumpus. Their clashing ideas on how to give readers what they need to know culminates to the highest point it can just short of murder. It's one of best scenes I've seen. 

I can't recall any other career-based movie that made me want to be in the story, working alongside the protagonist. 

Perhaps that's based on a bias of mine, having been a reporter albeit for a rag printed in a town with a population not even close to that of New York. Though I'm not currently a news reporter, it's left an indelible mark on my soul - a mark I received when first ordained into the calling of writing news that's fit to print. 

Michael Keaton and Lynne Thigpen

What makes this newspaper movie work is how it captures the energy and pressure of a news room. I can speak from experience about how that pressure has kept me up many a night. Writing for a newspaper is filled with uncertainty. And any good editor will tell you there's no room for uncertainty. 

Not getting the story is out of the question. I'll add Douglas Adams's quote here. "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." 

Readers are depending on the reporters. The newsroom is depending on reporters. The deadline is depending on them, too. As cliche' as it sounds, time is definitely of the essence. And nothing is more frustrating than having to depend on a public that generally couldn't care less about it any of it, unless of course the story will give them their coveted 15-minutes of fame. 

The movie captures all this beautifully! 

Keaton is perfect for his role. His sense of urgency mixed with his jumpy mannerisms, natural comedic talent, and exuberant jabber makes him well cast. Somewhere in this movie, I forgot I was watching Michael Keaton because he became a news reporter. 

Glenn Close's performance as a matter of fact boss who just wants to be part of the team, while still being seen and treated as the boss, works naturally off Michael Keaton. 

In one scene, she goes to Bernie to unload a bit about what is weighing on her shoulders. He reminds her of those old lessons practically every journalist hears more than once in their careers. Some of those lessons are easy to forget, such as when he says, "the people we cover, we move in their world, but it is their world!" 

Others are just hard truths we don't want to be reminded of, but we are nevertheless. This is especially true when the topic of money comes up, considering The Sun is running rather short on it.
"If you try to make this job about the money, you'll be nothing but miserable because we don't get the money. Never have. Never will," Bernie tells Clark.  

Inspired by The Front Page, this does have a well constructed modern take on the newsroom...for the nineties, of course.

The question of journalism ethics versus competition when it comes to a breaking story certainly isn't an original inquiry. They must always work together. Ethics can't be set aside because credibility takes effort to gain, is easy to lose, and isn't guaranteed to return when it's lost.

There are no slow moments in this movie. And if there is, the audience is still feeling the same crunch as Hackett and the crew.

Nothing in this movie outdoes the ending. The frustration between a writer wanting to convey a message to his audience against an editor's final say of what message will ultimately be distributed, can be can boil over quickly. 

And that's without a doubt one of the most shocking and hilarious moments I've seen in a movie. 

This ending deserves to be remembered among other noteworthy film endings. Yet, I don't think it is. And that's a shame. 

Like any credible newspaper with a team of writers who are on top of their game, this movie doesn't leave questions unanswered. 

I can relate to this movie. I can feel the apprehension and uncertainty. I recall the stress and the satisfaction of punching out one hell of a story. The shot nerves. The maddening frustration. Staring at a source and mouthing the words, "Say it. C'mon! Just say it!" I've been there. Ron Howard shows it just as it is.

Watching The Paper continues to instill in me a desire to do what I love to do- write as well as I can leaving no corner cut short.

The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters (1982)

"Americans measure their lives by holidays. Christmas. Easter. Birthdays. Thanksgiving. The Fourth of July. Like mile posts in the picket fence of the years that stretch on and on and on through our lives. But those holidays, when you're young, are the sweetest of all. You remember them forever."

Director

Richard Bartlett

Cast

Matt Dillon - Ralph Parker

James Broderick - The Old Man

Barbara Bolton - Mrs. Parker

Jay Ine - Randy

Babe Sargent - Ludlow Kissel

Jeff Yonis - Schwartz

William Lampley - Flick

Lisa Jacobsen - Pamela

With the pre-Christmas season upon us, my look into the "other" films of A Christmas Story's Ralphie Parker and the Parker family continues from my last posted review of The Phantom of the Open Hearth (1976). 

The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters aired on the PBS anthology series "American Playhouse" one year before the famed A Christmas Story was released in theaters and was initially labeled as a "sleeper film." By the way, movie critic Roger Ebert gave A Christmas Story four out of four stars and placed it on his list of "Great Movies." 

While watching this PBS film, I found myself falling into the same temptation I had while I sat and watched The Phantom of the Open Hearth.

Listening to Jean Shepherd narrate once again (his writing and wit I admire greatly), I wanted to scribble down all his words on paper. Of course, I didn't do that. Nevertheless, within the first three minutes of the movie I still managed to have a full notebook page of thoughts and things I wanted to say for this blog entry. My pen couldn't keep up with my mind's pace. 

Barbara Bolton and James Broderick return from The Phantom of the Open Hearth, which originally aired on another PBS anthology series called "Visions" as Mrs. Parker and the Old Man. 

A young Matt Dillon stars as Ralph Parker this time. He was last played by David Elliott. 

The movie starts with Jean Shepherd as an adult Ralph cruising along I-95 on his way to a fireworks warehouse called "South of the Border", the likes of which can still be found along the highways in, out of, and through the American Midwest. Large industrial cathedrals of American pyro-patriotism at "low prices that'll make your head explode." A Costco-esque extravaganza of crackers, garlands, and Black Cats, glowing like votive candles in the American ritual of independence. 

"You know, this joint makes Disneyland look as prosaic as Plainfield, New Jersey," he tells us as we sit in the passenger seat while he's barreling in his Rolls. 

Jean Shepherd

Shepherd wanders through the aisles with a small shopping cart full of large fireworks protruding out as he tells the audience how these are nothing compared to the big ones the Old Man used to shoot off on the 4th. 

"What is it about a solid molar-rattling explosion that sets the blood a'tingle and brings roses to cheeks?" 

We find a teenage Ralph working at the steel mill of Hohman, Indiana (a fictionalized town based on Shepherd's hometown of Hammond, Indiana near Chicago) in the middle of summer. 

He fancies himself a handsome catch despite his lack of interest in his friend Schwartz's persuading him to go on a blind date with his cousin, Pamela (Lisa Jacobsen). 

Ralph anticipates Pamela to be a more rotund figure with braces and thick glasses. Certainly not his type. 

Meanwhile, his Old Man buys an entire arsenal of fireworks for the July 4th spectacular. And Ralph has to practice for the local Independence Day parade as he's playing a sousaphone in the Hohman High School Marching Band.  

As Ralph agrees to go on this blind date, Pamela turns out to be a stunning blond gal. Along with Scwartz and his girlfriend, they all go to the movies for the evening. Ralph makes a klutz of himself by spilling his box of Good 'n Plenty on the floor when he's introduced to Pamela. His charming self-image comes out as awkward. During the show, Ralph doesn't help his awkward situation when he tries to pull the ol' arm around the shoulder bit. 

But Pamela puts the kibosh on that suave move when she tells him "don't be a child." Skunked!

Meanwhile, Mrs. Parker enters some sort of chain letter situation where she sends her washrags to someone else for reasons I couldn't quite figure out. This is much to the chagrin on Mr. Parker who can't find a single one to wash his face. But she suddenly inherits 17,900 washrags as a result of this chain.

And during the parade, the marching band's baton twirler accidentally launches one of his batons on to some power lines, causing a blackout across Hohman. 

The movie showcases the typical Americana happenings around the July 4th holiday with the same charm and reverence A Christmas Story does with the holiday season, and Ralphie's attempt to acquire the best Christmas gift he ever received, or would ever receive. 

There's a few quick familiar references fans of A Christmas Story will pick up on. For instance Ralph's little brother, Randy, asks his mom if he could buy a cherry bomb, only to be handed that famous line A Christmas Story managed to permanently fix into the cornucopia of movie catchphrases. In this case, it's the classic mother cherry bomb block - "You'll shoot your eye out." 

In the previous film, we saw the Old Man win his major award. This time, Mrs. Parker has her moment of success with her washcloth inheritance. She even gets her picture in the paper. A sulky dad stares at his wife, glowing with success, as Shepherd tells us, "The old man was really bugged. She won! She was famous for God's sake. The only thing he ever won was a stupid lamp, and nobody cared." 

And perhaps my favorite line in the movie was in reference to how much Randy could pull off whining, especially when it came to unwanted meals. 

His incessant mewling and whimpering is referred to as an "artform." 

"You wanted to kill him," Shepherd says. 

This, obviously, is referred to again in A Christmas Story when Randy (played by Ian Petrella) is enticed by his mother to imitate a little piggy so that he'll eat a plate of meatloaf he's otherwise disgusted by.

We're also treated to the story of Ludlow Kissel, the town drunk, and the incident of the bomb that "struck back." 

Matt Dillon as Ralph Parker

A perfect companion film to Phantom of the Open Hearth as it, too, turns the words of Shepherd into imagery of simplistic, glorious, American life and the freedom that comes with it. 

It's a view from the outside looking in, and Shepherd tells us in the audience to look at what we have here. How terrific it all is!

One scene shows the high school marching band practicing out on the football field as the steel mill sits monumentally just on the other side of the fence. Strong winds blow in from Lake Michigan with such intrusion and gusto, catching the sousaphones just right so that they start playing the students. 

Dillon's portrayal is certainly a stretch from Peter Billingsley's Ralphie, who's now an established image in American pop culture. Or, maybe it's the other way around as Billingsley's Ralphie didn't happen until the following year. That's certainly not a criticism. Of course, Ralphie in A Christmas Story is still in elementary school, and has his childhood innocence and blue-eyed look about him. It's the same role, but a different period of his life. The Ralph in The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters is much more present for the sake of Shepherd's narration. The stories are more memorable than Dillon playing Ralph. That's not to say he's a terrible Ralph Parker. Shepherd does more of the acting for him.

This is also James Broderick's last performance as he passed away the same year.

I was excited watching this movie. I was getting a whole new look at something I'm familiar with, and have loved for a few decades. Now, there's more to the story. There's more experiences with these familiar characters to appreciate and learn from. There's more to relate to. 

The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, though it clearly has that early made-for-TV feel to it, still has the same style and nostalgic charm that A Christmas Story has. All the same feels are there, only it's surrounding our nation's birthday rather than Jesus'. 

Like I said in my previous review, fans of A Christmas Story should check this one out. It's too bad this film is as obscure as it is. These are the movies that ought to be packaged with A Christmas Story!

Editors Note:
The next movie in the Ralph Parker saga (as I'm calling it) is another American Playhouse production called The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski. Originally airing on PBS Feb. 11, 1985, it's technically the first continuation to A Christmas Story. 

After that, I'll be looking at the made-for-TV movie Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss which aired in 1988, and has been shown on the Disney Channel several times as well as on PBS. Following Ralphie and his family as they travel on their annual vacation, it too was directed by Richard Bartlett. I already wrote a review for the 1994 sequel to A Christmas Story called It Runs in the Family (aka My Summer Story) starring Kieran Culkin as Ralphie and Charles Grodin as the Old Man.

I'll end this exciting escapade by holding my nose and diving into the sludgy cash-grab of a flick that is A Christmas Story II. I'll have to do it fast so it won't hurt as bad...like tearing off a band-aid. So, that's the plan. Merry Christmas!