Pun Salad

Consumer note: Despite this movie's title, we only are treated to one brief scene of newspapers actually being delivered.

It's set in 1969 redneck Florida, in a little town called Lately. The main character is Jack, played by Zac Efron; he's been tossed out of college for misbehavior, and is hanging out at home doing stuff for his newspaper-publishing dad. But to demonstrate that his heart is in the right place, the movie goes out of its way to show that he enjoys an unusually friendly relationship with the African-American part-time maid, Anita.

Meanwhile, white-trash Charlotte (Nicole Kidman) has started a campaign to free her fiancé-by-correspondence, Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack), from prison; he was convicted of a cop-killing a few years back, and he was (arguably) railroaded. Charlotte and Van Wetter have been exchanging R-rated letters, and she's become convinced that of all the convicts she's been writing to, he's her one true love.

The effort to free Van Wetter brings Jack's brother, Ward (Matthew McConaughey), back to Lately; he's working for a big-time Miami newspaper. He has co-worker Yardley (David Oyelowo) in tow, an African-American newspaper writer. They smell a possiple big crusading-journalist story of justice miscarried.

Zack, Ward, Charlotte, and Yardley form an unlikely, unstable team of investigators. And the movie becomes more about them than their investigation: Charlotte is a devious slut, Jack has the hots for her, Ward and Yardley have their own secrets.

It all gets quite sordid and (eventually) violent. (Key quote: "If anyone's gonna piss on him, it's going to be me. He don't like strangers peeing on him.") If you have the urge to see Nicole Kidman act and talk dirty in a southern accent, this is your go-to movie. (She was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award.) Otherwise, I can't recommend it.