The Paperboy

It's messy, it's silly, it's outrageously over-the-top and at times eroticized with such abandon you can hardly tell if it's supposed to be repulsive or hilarious. Lee Daniels' "The Paperboy" is one of those rare cinematic creatures that really GO there, testing, dancing, flaunting right on the edge of the acceptable, shocking you with a wink of mischief.

While it's definitely not made for everyone, this wild and fabulous concoction of a movie throws fearless performances by Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, an ample dose of Zac Efron nakedness, lurid photography and a sultry soundtrack dripping with sweat and burning with careless desire all into the mix, coming up with a Southern noir headier than booze and thicker than tar. One could roundly dismiss it as campy farce, but it'd be crazy not to recognize a vision behind all that swampy insanity.