TABLOID – The Review

Errol Morris may be best known as the maker of such hard-hitting, serious documentaries as THE THIN BLUE LINE, which helped free a man from death row, or THE FOG OF WAR, a look back at the Vietnam War, but occasionally he points his camera at subjects many consider light like his early film THE GATES OF HEAVEN, a look at the pet funeral business. Often Morris offers insight with this whimsical journeys-GATES is a great meditation on the interaction of people with their pets. Such is the case with his newest film TABLOID. A quick glance at it’s subject- a re-examination of 1970’s sex scandal- might strike you as a bit silly, but Morris delves deeper and brings forth a terrific portrait fo some eccentric characters and a look at media from many years ago.

The phrase ” You couldn’t make this stuff up” certainly applies to the infamous incident that became known in England as “the Mormon in manacles” case. In 1977 , an American Mormon missionary stationed in London, Kirk Anderson, reported to police that he had been kidnapped at gunpoint, driven to an isolated country cottage, chained to a bed, and raped by his ex-girlfriend Joyce McKinney, a former Miss Wyoming World beauty pageant winner. The arrest and trial became front page fodder for the competing British newspaper tabloids. For months every move of Joyce and her accomplice Keith were reported by the media. In this new film Morris has tracked down many the story’s principals and inter-cut footage form British TV news shows along with cut-out type animation using the newspaper graphics and headlines from that era. The real life people come up with lines that no writer could dream up as dialogue.

Most of the film is interviews conducted with Morris’s Interrotron system that allows the interviewee to look directly at the interviewer while speaking directly to the camera. We can hear Morris respond to his subjects and he sometimes chuckles at the responses. This is the case with the expressive, flamboyant Ms. McKinney, She refers to her drama training and uses these skills while relating her adventures. Morris does use some stock 1950’s footage to illustrate her domestic desires and later cuts in crude, 1970’s cell animation of Mormon beliefs. This woman’s life could esily be a TV mini-series. After her big scandal of thirty years ago, instead of retreating back into the shadows, she returns in the new century with another unusual story that attracts global interest. Watching her, the viewer’s feelings can go from pity to disgust to astonishment many times over the film’s running time. Odd and eccentric doesn’t begin to describe her.

Several other people involved in the incident and the reporter are interviewed ( in addition to a very verbose ex-Mormon ).  The most entertaining may be the pilot that Joyce and her partner Keith hired to fly them to England. His story of his first meeting with her-she’s attired in a very see-through outfit- is one of the funniest moments I’ve seen on film this year. The most informative pieces may be the interviews with two men who originally covered the story for rivals The Daily Express and The Daily Mirror. In these recent days of closing newspapers it’s great to return to that not so distant past when the competition for a scoop ( and bigger sales ) was so heated-before 24 hour cable news existed. The Mirror became the main cheerleader for McKinney and celebrated her exploits ( perhaps paid for by the paper themselves ) while The Mirror looked into McKinney’s somewhat seedy modeling past-she insists still that her face was placed on nude bodies in photos. The film then becomes an investigation into media ethics when The Express reporter states that he believes that McKinney may be ” barking mad”, but did not stop in exploiting her. A very serious topic for what had been a whimsical sex and religious farce.

Morris once again proves that a documentary doesn’t have to be dry and dreary to be thought provoking. The old talking heads interview is made entertaining  and often hilarious in the film. I’ve only a slight quibble or two about this, but they’re things out of Morris’s control. An interview with McKinney’s partner-in-crime Keith would have been very enlightening, but he passed away in 2004. I wanted to know why this man would dedicate himself to aiding her in her mission of seducing and rescuing Kirk ( many of those interview speculated on this unusual relationship). Speaking of Kirk, he’s still alive but refused to speak with Morris ( Kirk is still involved with the Mormon church ). Also, Morris was unable to track down a former boyfriend/agent ( perhaps manager ) of McKinney’s from the late 70’s. Now that scandals are the main fodder for magazines, cable TV, and the Internet, TABLOID is a well made look back at a time that people reached for the morning paper to keep informed ( and a bit titillated ).

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars