Film Reviews

Rag Tale

• Rating:
• Director: Mary McGuckian.
• Starring: Rupert Graves, Malcolm McDowell, Jennifer Jason Leigh.
• Details: UK, 123mins, 18s.

Set in the sensational world of British tabloids, Rag Tale tells the story of a romance and a battle for control over the direction of a newspaper played out in the paper's office. Making the audience realise they are watching a movie is death for a director and Mary McGuckian not only reminds them constantly, she makes it infuriating. The camera constantly moves like a four-year-old after six cups of coffee and a handful of Smarties, zooming out, in and around the characters as McGuckian tries to emphasise the hustle and bustle of a top tabloid. This leaves the audience to concentrate on the improvised script, which stinks worse than Robert Maxwell. There are some comic moments - the discussion of the following day's headlines, for example - and some of the cast do a good job of conveying the relationships in the group, but with great actors like McDowell and Ian Hart on board, this is a missed opportunity. With its substance that of a soulless tabloid and the style that of mid-'80s MTV, there is little to recommend Rag Tale.

Review by Gavin Burke