Nicole Kidman vamps it up in steamy Cannes contender

CANNES: Nicole Kidman sizzles as a small-town vamp drawn to a convicted murderer in Lee Daniels' "The Paperboy", marking the US director's return to Cannes Thursday after his harrowing hit "Precious".

The steamy new picture, set partly in Florida's humid swamps, features a bleached-blonde Kidman as Charlotte, who carries on correspondence with dozens of prison inmates in the late 1960s.

The film, one of 22 in the running for the festival's Palme d'Or top prize to be handed out on Sunday, divided the audience at an early press screening, drawing an even mix of applause and boos.

The Australian Kidman, who dials down her natural glamour and turns up the sex appeal in the role of the small-town seductress, said she had been looking for "something raw and more dangerous" when she was given Daniels' screenplay.

"I had seen 'Precious' and I thought it was amazing and I wanted to work with him," she said after the screening.

"Precious", which tells the story of an African-American incest survivor, screened in the festival's Un Certain Regard sidebar section before going on to two Academy Award nominations. (AFP)