[HanCinema's Film Review] "Tabloid Truth"

The marketing for this film might confuse you into thinking that it's about rumors and the danger they pose to society in the digital age. Disabuse yourself of that notion. For the sake of this movie, there is exactly one rumor that matters. It's the one that causes a tragedy and thus sends Woo-gon (played by Kim Kang-woo) on a roaring rampage of revenge against whoever might be responsible.

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I don't mean that in a flattering way. Believe me, if "Tabloid Truth" had any kind of consistent sense of humor about it this might be a considerably more tolerable movie. We see a man on a footrace against a car, duels involving baseball bats, and constant discussion of wiretaps located in strange places. And yet somehow for all these absurd setpieces the movie's main priority seem to be to make us worry about how big mean and violent and dangerous Woo-gon's adversaries are.

There are lots of sticks, a few stones, and plenty of breaking of the bones to be had here. But it's not funny. It's supposed to be serious. However, the sheer repetition of this same plot device just makes me question the competence of all the people involved. The bad guys try doing the same thing repeatedly whilst expecting new results, whereas the good guys are clearly the victim of several crimes by the end of movie yet never attempt to call the police until just the last minute.

Which might be reasonable, actually, given the incompetence they show at the beginning. No, I don't mean on-screen. I mean in retrospect thanks to the last minute plot twist. Yes, it turns out that something mysterious was behind the crime that spurred Woo-gon to action. But apparently the coroner made no investigation of the body, like at all, or else we could have solved this mystery within the first half hour. Evidently halfway logical character reactions were a low priority compared to unimaginative setpieces and foreshadowing so heavy-handed it's just eyeroll inducing.

Debatedly some of the fight scenes have comedic elements to them. Unfortunately, any laughs that could be gotten from this are sharply derailed by the apparently epic treatment given to Woo-gon's quest for justice. The movie tries to make us laugh at cartoony violence one minute then cringe the next when we run amuck of goonish torture. The lack of meaningful characterization only serves to highlight how arbitrarily these scenes are pieced together.

As far as broader theming goes, if "Tabloid Truth" had any kind of worthwhile statement to make regarding scandals in the digital age I missed it. I'm not the most up to date on newfangled technological doodads, but I'm pretty sure online rumormongering isn't the fault of poorly lit conspiracies. This movie is too serious to be seen as a genuine comedy, and isn't bad enough to be seen as an ironic comedy. Maybe the action is to your liking provided broken fingers hit a soft spot in the heart. Outside of that there really just isn't any point to any of this.

Review by William Schwartz

"Tabloid Truth" is directed by Kim Kwang-sik-I and features Kim Kang-woo, Jung Jin-young, Ko Chang-seok and Park Sung-woong