Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman star in The Paperboy, a film adaptation which is dividing critics fresh from its press screening. "The Paperboy makes a time to kill look like to kill a mockingbird," was the damning reaction of film reviewer James Rocchi (@jamesrocchi).

Robbie Collin (@robbiereviews) of The Daily Telegraph called it "the first bona fide fiasco of the festival. So bad it has to be seen to be believed. Transcendentally shambolic."

FirstShowing founder Alex Billington (@firstshowing) looked for silver lining. "Yea that was pretty bad. Trashy, forgettable. At least Lee Daniels got good perfs from Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack."

"Best thing Kidman, McConaughey, Efron & Cusack have done in a while," agreed Chris Knight of Canada's National Post (@ChrisKnightfilm), while others enjoyed it even more.

HitFix's Guy Lodge called it "a successfully calculated camp classic. Kinkily demented, yes. Inept, no. Kidman and Macy fab" (@GuyLodge).

"The Paperboy gets boos as well as applause at Cannes 2012 but I liked it. Haven't seen Nicole Kidman having so much fun since To Die For," wrote Emma Pritchard Jones (@EmmaPJones) of the BBC and The Huffington Post.

And for all the disagreement, does it have enough to win the judges' hearts?

Perhaps not at Cannes, but AP's Jill Lawless (@JillLawless) is on hand with her prediction: "Nicole Kidman adopts a southern accent and pees on Zac Efron. Oscar nomination in the bag."