MovieChat Forums > The Paper (1994) Discussion > Most realistic newspaper movie?

Most realistic newspaper movie?

posted 13 years ago by mjz688
16 replies | jump to latest

I worked at newspapers big and small for 30 years as a reporter and editor, and I've never seen a movie that better captures the rhythms, tensions, disappointments and satisfactions of working at a daily paper. And when it comes to characters, "The Paper" is almost a verbatim catalog of newsroom archetypes. The inexperienced photog, the wise-cracking editor, the kevetching RSI sufferer,
the over-bearing senior editor -- these characters really exist. And the ticking of the clock as deadline nears? It was like the clock of doom -- and at the same time, just another day at the office. My favorite moment is when Keaton is at the faux NY Times office and a reporter in the background starts speaking German into the phone. The perfect stereotype of the over-educated, over-dressed, overly coddled NYT reporter.

I'm not saying this is the best newspaper movie ever made (hard to trump "All the President's Men"), but for nailing the day-to-day realism of journalism, I can't think of any better.

[–] Prismark10 12 years ago

I found it too twee and as you said All the President's men is hard to trump.

Its that man again!!

[–] facebookblows009 12 years ago

Roger Ebert recently stated when The Paper came to Netflix streaming that it was a realistic depiction of the newspaper industry.

[–] jaystarstar 11 years ago

"The Shipping News" is SORT OF like what working on a very small daily or weekly is like.

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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.

[–] DBloodnok 11 years ago

I'm an ex broadcast journalist and the scene in the restaurant where everything slows down as the deadline approaches evokes many memories - I remember grabbing forced coffees with friends while on a brief break from the newsroom and it felt like we were on different record speeds, I was only thinking about the deadline and what had to be done in the next hour or three and everything else around me was in slow motion. Well, that or it was some dodgy mushroom soup I'd eaten.....

"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."

[–] Concise_Statement 11 years ago

If I remember correctly, it got the seal of approval from the late Christopher Hitchens, whose opinion I value a great deal. Shame no one seems to remember this film given Ron Howard has made a lot of crap as well, like the Dan Brown stories.

This is the best bad idea we have sir. By far.

[–] Yorick_Brown 10 years ago

"All the President's Men" (1976) is the best movie about journalism ever made period while "The Insider" (1999) is the second best but the best movie about TV journalism.

"The Paper" was a nice, little dramedy though.

I would love to see a new movie or show about journalism that features the explosion of social media and smart phones.

We got somewhat of a glimpse of that in the short-lived FOX series, "Touch."

Passenger side, lighting the sky
Always the first star that I find
You're my satellite...

[–] one8teen 10 years ago

The News Room with Jeff Daniels is the the best show about the news.

[–] jaystarstar 10 years ago

I'm an ex broadcast journalist and the scene in the restaurant where everything slows down as the deadline approaches evokes many memories - I remember grabbing forced coffees with friends while on a brief break from the newsroom and it felt like we were on different record speeds, I was only thinking about the deadline and what had to be done in the next hour or three and everything else around me was in slow motion. Well, that or it was some dodgy mushroom soup I'd eaten.....

Henry's parents and especially Martha jumping all over him for having to leave for work was kind of unrealistic -- if your son is about 40 and has been in newspapers 20 years or so you should be well-used to this type of thing by this time. YOU SHOULD KNOW if he is 15 minutes late for dinner you might as well just go ahead and order.

Martha's going berserk over him going back to get the scoop rang especially fake, because just as Henry said, SHE RAN OFF HERSELF AT 8 1/2 MONTHS PREGNANT to help him get info for the story, what the hell was the point of her doing that if he was not going to use it in a HOT story in the next edition?

Although I suppose you could explain erratic emotional behavior on her part to hormones going crazy in late pregnancy.

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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.

[–] IanDSmith 10 years ago

Ha. The show is better than it used to be, but even if it is loosely based in Keith Olberman's newsroom antics, that show is too pretentious and self-righteous to be realistic.
The BBC's "State of Play," on the other hand, is a masterpiece.

[–] peterquennell-187-625284 9 years ago

Agree on the 2003 BBC State of Play. For me number one.

This was a six-hour TV miniseries with a great Bill Nighy as the sardonic editor which allowed several complex themes to play out.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362192/

There was an American movie version in 2009 (with NZ-born Russell Crowe and UK-born Helen Mirren!) which tried hard but much had to be left out.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473705/

Good cast. Jeff Daniels was in that.

During the Occupy Wall Street I stood with a group downtown listening to Keith Olbermann (who I always like) for half an hour and he was funny, calm and smart.

Also big, and his clothes were less than bespoke. :-)

Hang in there, NY Times. Very loyal subscribers here, for 20+ years.

[–] Jazzie-too 9 years ago

Good enough to me!! And the cast was so great!

[–] henrimaine 9 years ago

I know almost nothing about day to day newspaper business, but there was definitely something missing from this movie that is present in today's newspaper - internet. The paper in this movie did not yet have a website. Today, all bigger newspapers have some sort of online version. I wonder if that makes newspaper business even more frantic or does it slow the business down a bit?

[–] jaystarstar 9 years ago

Most newspapers now rush frantically to get whatever they have online as soon as possible. Accuracy suffers as a result.

The print edition is becoming more and more an afterthought.

"The Paper" was made literally in the last months of total print news domination. By 1995, most major metro dailies had significant websites and the huge debate over whether to prioritize print vs. online was on. Many papers deliberately did not put their best material online, hoping to draw readers to the paid print product. Generally that backfired badly.

That debate was mostly over by 2005.

The 2009 U.S. version of "State of Play" does a pretty good job of showing the conflict between the up-and-coming blogger and online writer Rachel McAdams and the grizzled old print journalist, Russell Crowe.

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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.

[–] Ghetto_Defendant 9 years ago

"The 2009 U.S. version of 'State of Play' does a pretty good job of showing the conflict between the up-and-coming blogger and online writer Rachel McAdams and the grizzled old print journalist, Russell Crowe."

True. And this is the core idea of the U.S. remake. But it lost the original, and more interesting, theme of power corrupting in the plot of the latter incarnation. It wasn't just the MP, but Cal McCaffrey and the publisher, too. He was becoming a part of the overall narrative in the investigation, while the publisher had political concerns that wouldn't with the U.S. version.

[–] tobysmith-10719 8 years ago

"Spotlight," 2016's Oscar winner for best picture, may have something to say about this. "Spotlight" may not have the speed of "The Paper," but it clearly has the realism. Investigate reporting as seen in "Spotlight," is a slow, slow business.

[–] mjz688 8 years ago

True enough re: Spotlight's realism.

It's important to note, though, that long-game investigative reporting is very different from the deadline-to-deadline, I-need-that-story-now! type of journalism portrayed in The Paper. I guess a good analogy would be comparing a cancer surgeon to an emergency room doctor, or a police detective to a beat cop.