Lee Daniels
New Film: The Paperboy
Country: USA
Age: 52
Best Known for: Becoming the second African-American director in history to earn a Best Director Oscar nomination (for 2009's Precious)
Cannes History
Two out of three ain't bad, right? Precious, Daniels' second film, played in 2009's Un Certain Regard program, while The Paperboy is his first Competition title.
His Resume
Daniels' resume begins with Monster's Ball and The Woodsman, which he helped produce, but his first directorial feature was Shadowboxer. Critics savaged the film back in 2005. It stars Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding, Jr. as lovers who also have a mother/son relationship and work together as assassins ... or something. Never saw it myself, but the reviews are a hoot (it's rocking a whopping 19% on RottenTomatoes).
Precious, then, was something of a revelation. Of course, the film is most fondly remembered for the outstanding performances from Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique, and Daniels' direction is ironically noted as one of the film's biggest weaknesses. But wherever you fall on his work in Precious, there's no denying he has a certain style that made the film resonate with people.
His work on Precious earned Daniels an Oscar nomination for Best Director. He was also one of the film's nominees for Best Picture. He took home two Independent Spirit Awards the same year (again, for Best Director and Best Feature), and the film swept the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered.
Daniels On-Demand
Hulu Plus: N/A
iTunes: Precious
Netflix Instant: Shadowboxer, Precious
Vudu: Precious
The Paperboy
"A reporter returns to his Florida hometown to investigate a case involving a death row inmate." —IMDb
Matthew McConaughey plays the reporter (he also stars in Jeff Nichols' Mud, another Competition title, incidentally enough), Zac Efron his younger brother. Nicole Kidman, it seems, has the showiest role (see below), as an alcoholic tramp of sorts who brings these two men in to try to save an inmate on death row (John Cusack).
The story is apparently very pulpy, and with the book's author, Pete Dexter, also writing the screenplay, it sounds like The Paperboy will be a major departure for Daniels. Frankly, this makes me a little nervous. I'm still not sure exactly what he's capable of. He made one great film (one I wasn't nearly as high on as so many others were), and one supposedly terrible one. Not only that, but the subject matter and tone isn't the kind of thing that's going to come across well if handled with the tragic lack of subtlety on hand in Precious. If this film (and that Kidman performance) feels heavy-handed, it'll be a tough slog to get through.
Then again, it might be great, and it's surprise inclusion in the Competition (at least from my perspective) could signal good things. Don't expect Efron or McConaughey to compete for acting titles, but I wouldn't necessarily bet against Kidman for Actress. And with many of Daniels' Precious crew members (like editor Joe Klotz and composer Mario Grigorov) back for another go-around with him, maybe The Paperboy will surprise. Whatever its quality, however, this film will, along with Cosmopolis and Moonrise Kingdom, be one of the highest profile films on the Croisette.
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