‘The Paper’

Ron Howard’s 1994 film is rife with the motion and commotion that characterize all newspaper films, and the kind of manic “get the story” energy is especially suited to knockabout comedy. The story of a single day in the life of a great, albeit fictional, New York tabloid, it centers on its metro editor (Michael Keaton, pictured) who clashes with the managing editor (Glenn Close, also pictured) a bottom-line oriented ice queen, over running a story on page-one about two black youths whom even the cops disown as serious suspects in the killing of two white businessmen. The crusty editor-in-chief (Robert Duvall) gives Keaton, who doesn’t want to ruin the youths’ lives, five hours to prove that they are innocent. “The Paper” is never dull--but it might leave you shellshocked (Showtime Tuesday at 8 p.m.).