10 Brilliant Characters Trapped In Terrible Movies

Based on Pete Dexter's fantastic novel of the same name, The Paperboy has an awful lot going for it. Written by Dexter and director Lee Daniels, it features a staggering cast (Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, John Cusack, and Nicole Kidman), and a striking murder mystery.

Unfortunately, the film features little of the novel's intelligence and raw emotional power, the plot dulled by shock-value violence, dark tonal shifts and surprisingly weak performances from Efron and McConaughey.

But then there's Kidman, who plays the film's stand-out character Charlotte Bless, a tragic and hopeful woman who falls in love with murderer Hillary Van Wetter (Cusack), only to find her romance overshadowed by Van Wetter's abusive behaviour and murderous impulses.

Easily the most compelling character in the movie, Bless is a seriously complex creation who is as seductive as she is intimidating. The film around her may be a melodramatic mess, but Bless is a character well worth seeing it for.