One Rogue Reporter

Taking a big, obvious bludgeon to a big, obvious target—the worst of the sleazy British tabloid newspapers—Tom Jenkinson's documentary certainly boasts guilty pleasure appeal, much like the sordid rags themselves. Reporter Rich Peppiatt, who co-directs, wrote sensationalist articles and performed stunts for London's Daily Star, until—citing management's chronic anti-Muslim bias—he quit. What seems like incredibly bad timing was actually, for Peppiatt, very good timing—right before the scandal of illegal phone-hacking hit Fleet Street, and some of Peppiatt's old colleagues went to jail. Here, acting as avenger for the many transgressions and intrusions of the gutter press (which actors such as Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan say often hurt innocent people, not coddled celebs), Peppiatt calls out the shadowy, tax-dodging, right-wing press barons who determine content for the Daily Mail, Star, and other tabs. Along the way, he stages frankly juvenile pranks, one involving a dildo on a doorstep. Truth be told, one almost admires the stoicism of the grubby press barons—much as they deserve rough justice—as Peppiatt comically harasses them, paparazzi-style. Viewer enjoyment will also hinge on how much one is familiar with U.K.-specific culture and controversies, not to mention tolerance for onscreen naughty bits, male and female. Recommended. (C. Cassady)