The Paper Store

The Paper Store is a rare look at academia in America. Narrator Stef Dawson, Annalee, is the smart ex student selling her ability to write college papers. Penn Badgley, Sigurd, hires her to write his entire 516 class so he can focus on his thesis. He doubles her price, and she takes on the course. And him. Both rattle on with film jargon non stop very lighthearted and not too insufferable. Both characters are unlikable, yet very realistic in ther sex and money problems. The narration is unreliable. The squabble over credit hours is spot on. Exploitation, manipulation, and education are topics covered in the rapid dialogue like foreplay. Richard Kind, Professor Marty Kane, let's the truth come out that student don't matter. He can't afford to have his TA bring C students up to A students. He would be let go. He has to have tenure at any price. David Cronenberg, The Simpsons, and Little Trees are brought up so if you want to enjoy this film brush up on some film studies' topics. The Paper Store is based on the play 516 by Katharine Clark Gray. She and her husband, Michael Gray, wrote the screenplay.

The writing of this screenplay is witty, crisp, and at times biting. Very much in the vein of Arron Sorkin. Though some of the references may fly over your head, the intellectual combat of the characters is humorous and exciting to observe.

The cast is amazing! Richard Kind steals the show as Prof. Marty Kane. And the two romantic leads, Stef Dawson and Penn Badgley have electric chemistry on screen together. The sexual tension between them builds with a slow boil that delivers an explosive climax in the final moments. Throw in a few cleverly crafted and well placed camera moves and you've got a solid, quirky indie rom-com that doesn't disappoint.

The Paper Store couldn't have been more boring if it tried. It's about a woman who writes college essays for students (hence The Paper Store, buying college papers), who gets bought by one student to write exclusively for it.

The first 20 minutes of the movie felt like an adult movie, with all the sex scenes taken out. The acting is on par with that. We see the couple meet, go back to his place, kiss, fade to black. This then repeats in a coffee shop, and again his place.

There is a storyline about her trying to get revenge on him, because he doesn't care enough, but the overall movie was so bad, and the delivery so atrocious, it was hard to care.

The one saving grace in the movie is Richard Kind, the professor giving the class she is writing the essays for. He brings some sort of credibility to the role, and rides the line of a professor who seems to care about his student, but really only cares about himself, quite well.

This movie devolves into a he said/she said but frankly I don't care either way.

I found the fim entertaining and not like any of the negative reviews posted. Maybe the Gilmore Girl fans of penn badgely were expecting something else I can't say. But the dialogue was 'real' to me. There were not heros or villians just people. Real people, self centered and often cruel. But that is reality, it is not fluffy feel good piece about someone's collaged days.

Postive: 1. Tatianna Maslany of "Orphan Black" fame was listed in Special Thanks credits. However, some Hunger Games Mockingjay (appropriately) personnel were also listed which then qualifies there contribution to go over to the negative side of the ledger. Negatives: 1. No subtitles, in fact, no menu options which typically indicates cheap, cheap, cheap. This also indicates that getting the message (dialogue) across didn't matter. Made worse w/hyper-speed rote recitation of lines which made what acting there was seem contrived. Enunciation & audio levels were not great either. Feel bad for those w/hearing issues. 2. Storyline was about college ghost writing of papers for ss. And, not coincidentally, the script for this movie (excuse me - film) seemed like one of those ghost written papers for a film class - it was so shallow. 3. Activities by characters seemed self-centered which matches the script - a script that N.Y.'ers would relish.