Tabloid Reviews
MCCLATCHY TRIBUNE NEWSWIRE (syndicated to 30+ daily newspapers)
*From Lexis Nexis
Your respective thirst or intolerance for the current tabloid golden (or dark) age will likely dictate whether Errol Morris’ latest documentary is enthralling entertainment or worth barely a shrug. “Tabloid” revisits the life of Joyce McKinney, a former pageant queen whose fame arises from her (alleged) kidnapping of the Mormon missionary she loved and the (alleged) sexual coercion that took place in a remote cottage shortly after. Joyce deemed it a rescue from religious brainwashing; the British tabloid press called it criminal sexual enslavement and painted her as a prostitute of the most prolific order. “Tabloid,” for its part, lets Joyce and her adversaries each tell their sides of the story more than 30 years after it happened. The result is entertaining — in part because of how bizarre the story (allegedly) is, in part because of how crazy and devoted everyone remains to their respective versions of the truth. For that same reason, “Tabloid” also frustrates, because it ultimately goes nowhere past entertainment. The man at the center of the story has refused to tell his side of it, and without him to help set the record straight, what are we doing here if not using rusty bows to sling bent arrows? The entertainment factor is high enough to carry “Tabloid,” which catches a fun second wind with a wholly different story in the last act, but if you have a history with Joyce’s story and are hungry for answers, the fridge is as bare as it has been for decades. No extras — which is a shame, because it’d be fun to hear some fallout from Joyce’s very public dissatisfaction with how the film turned out.*
LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Errol Morris' offbeat documentary "Tabloid" is all about Joyce McKinney, best known (for those who know her at all) for her involvement with a 1977 kidnapping/rape case that the British press dubbed "The Manacled Mormon." Morris lets McKinney tell the story of how she abducted and had sex repeatedly with a Utah man because she loved him and wanted to "deprogram" his religious brainwashing. Morris also allows people with different angles on the tale to tell their piece of it — including the reporters from competing tabloids, one of which championed McKinney and one of which trashed her. Morris makes no real effort to investigate the truth, because that's not really the point here. The film is more about how easy it is to skew a story for entertainment purposes and thereby make celebrities of people who haven't really done anything except be nutty.”
amNY (lead review with photo)
"the film presents a balanced perspective and is definitely a must-see."
NEW YORK MAGAZINE - VULTURE (Miranda Siegel's #1 pick of the week)
A former Ms. Wyoming cuffs a Mormon to a bed, screws him silly for three days straight, incites a media frenzy, goes to jail, then has her pit bull cloned. Errol Morris hit the documentary jackpot with Joyce McKinney, who then got pretty pissed when his sleaze-driven film premiered. Now she can kick up another fuss over the Blu-ray/DVD release.
BARRETT NEWS SERVICE (syndicated in all 50 states)
“The film proves as fascinating as the rest of Morris’ intriguing body of work, given how it delicately unravels the mystery of exactly how and why Joyce planned and executed such a kinky conspiracy.
What might be most remarkable is the fact that the now wheelchair-bound mastermind cooperated with this project and remains in denial to this day, asserting, “I still don’t think I ever did anything wrong.” A thought-provoking picture raising the probing question: Can a woman rape a man, or is it merely assault with intent to please?
You be the judge.”
