Critically-acclaimed director Errol Morris (Gates of Heaven, The Thin Blue Line, The Fog of War) has a goldmine of fantastic drama to weave through with the story of Joyce McKinney. Her tale of love and obsession is never-ending and is given a stage in Tabloid.As a young woman in the mid 1970s, Joyce McKinney falls in love with a man and when they are unable to be together, she does everything in her power to get him back, including flying to England and inciting a British media frenzy. What follows is a truly amazing, erotic and spell-binding tale of one woman’s quest for the man she loves. It’s best not to tell you too much more because the best part about the film is how it continues to yield surprise after surprise.Without reenactments, Joyce’s story is told by those who lived it and were around her. A handful of interviewees each give their perspective of the events surrounding the “Manacled Mormon” and it’s easy to see how the British media went so crazy for it. She was smiley and very charismatic even in when arrested.Using newspaper clips as graphics, the film itself has a visual style not unlike a newspaper tabloid. The score melds perfectly, sometimes using a bright cheery melody then changing to a crime show beat. With so many twists and turns, it never drags and entertains throughout.
Rating: Just when you think it can’t get any weirder, it does. 8/10
Available on DVD November 1, 2011 or on IFC On Demand with your cable provider.
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